


Desolate Minds

by valxra (trashii)



Series: bleak bodies [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Brother Complex, Character Death, F/M, Flashbacks, M/M, Reincarnation, Self-Insert, Semi Self-Insert!OC, Sibling Bonding, but idgaf bc its too late to do anything now, heads up the timeline i used to plan this story is wrong, in which there's a clan based off of kuroko tetsuya's ability, mentions of zombie apocalypse, mentions of zombies, no sidepairings, read it and weep kids, so things might be wonky, there will be romance but it's not the main focus and it won't happen until later in the story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-03-12 04:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13539291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashii/pseuds/valxra
Summary: Dying in a world full of rotting monsters, insane human beings, and a whole lot of death is excellent preparation for when you're going to be reborn into the Narutoverse. [SI-OC]。。。His world had taken a drastic turn: the end of days were here. Soon, the normal life that he had always known became a zombie-infested wasteland. He fought to survive, knowing that things were different now and that rules didn't apply anymore. After getting a nasty scratch, he ended up having to take his life, but on the bright side, he was born into a new life as a boy named, Kyojin. Kyo now lives in a world that isn't plagued by a virus, but violence still seems to be a huge part of it: something he's adapted to very well. This world seems almost perfect for a mind like his, especially so that it's a world that he had only thought existed in a book.





	1. the darkest burning star

I remember running from them. Their loud groans and heavy breathing were enough to keep me going, my adrenaline high only amping my speed all the more.

It wasn't enough, though. It was _never_ enough.

In my panic, I tripped over one of the corpses that littered the infested city's ground. Only it wasn't really _that_ dead. It's boney, grotesque hand (or what was left of it anyway) snapped up and tried to claw at my ankles.

My breath had hitched, fear striking me in the back of the head like a metal baseball bat. I was frozen solid for an entire second before I quickly curled my legs closer to my body and scrambled backwards onto my feet (it wasn't enough; nothing was).

 _I needed to keep running._ The horde was getting **closer**.

I had been living in this nightmare for over a year. I had witnessed my friends and family either die, or lose themselves in a downward spiral. Right now, the only thing keeping me going was my will to show those undead-living fucks that they can _try_ to take over the world, but they sure as hell weren't going to succeed.

Not while my group and I were around, working on a cure for this insane disease.

My legs were in motion again, but they were stinging now and it hurt so _so_ much to move them. I couldn't— _wouldn't_ stop though. Not until I reached the safe zone. _I was almost there; it was right around the corner. Right_ **_there_ ** _._

It was too late, though. Running was never enough in this world. The survivors had to be cautious, wary, quiet, and _armed_. Along the way, I had forgotten a few of these things.

 _I watched a whole horde swallow and rip him apart. My brother, my poor baby brother._  
_Panic consumed, gasps fill the air. Their dead eyes were on me now. Must run, had to run._  
_Slippery fingers dropped the sharp blade. The only thing worth using that was with me. All I had were my legs then, so I ran and ran and ran._  
_There was a gun in my pocket, but with only one bullet left. It was for me. It was always intended for me._

My legs caved in on me, and I slid across the pavement. I was so out of it that I couldn't even cry out in pain. Instead, the only thing I could comprehend at _all_ were the long, disgusting looking scratches on one of my ankles.

Despair, horror, dread, and so many other things rushed through me. _Time to stop running. You've fought for so long, why not stop for a little while? Leave saving the world to the pros; the ones that don't forget the rules along the way._

With crying eyes and shaking hands, I watched the approaching horde of the undead with a smirk on my face. My pistol was in my hand, cocked and ready to fire. I aimed it at the closest zombie— the one that I had tripped over; the one that had marked the end for me.

_"You can try all you like, but I will never be one of you."_

With the barrel on my head, I pulled the trigger.

_If you're not afraid to die, then I guess you should keep on living._

 

* * *

 

Before the world went to shit, I was your usual male college student, trying to make a name for myself as a major in immunology. The only thing particularly _unique_ about me (or something others would often question me about), was that I was born a female.

The story there isn't anything too amazing. In short, one day I realized "she/her" wasn't me, and slowly began to start transitioning myself. For awhile, I was known as a trans male, but around my senior year of high school, I finally managed to complete my conversion.

Of course my change wasn't easy (on myself _or_ others), but in the end everything worked out.

That was then though, and now my only regret was that I hadn't found my true gender sooner. As life after death wasn't what those religious loonies had chalked it up to be.

One moment, I literally felt myself —my _soul_ — slip through my body like I was a snake shedding its skin, and then the next I felt like I was in a bottle of slimy vasoline. I drifted in and out of consciousness frequently, but I was never fully there.

The more time that went by, the more I forgot about myself and my past. Every now and then however, my memories would come back to me and I’d begin to _panic_. I’d squirm and kick— doing all that I could to try and escape wherever the hell I was. The attacks would never last long however, because soon I’d tire out and drift into unconsciousness again.

This went on in a cycle before one day I was finally released. Leaving the gooey prison wasn’t something I clearly remembered. All I can really recall is feeling the impact of cold air against my _naked_ body, and that someone was handling me— rather gently might I add, despite my extreme thrashing.

I had plenty of time to think while I was in that dark place. One of the things I had pondered on was reincarnation. It was something I genuinely hoped was real, as I would prefer to live a life that severely _lacked_ undead monsters that were out to get me. I wanted to be able to live again; _truly_ live this time. I would never take what I had for granted again, and I would make sure to cherish every single person in my life.

My new life only _truly_ began when I figured everything out. I was in my new mother’s arms, being lulled to sleep by her and my father’s coos. Another body was on the bed next to my mother, curled up at her side as they looked on at me— the bundle in her arms. My new family was speaking in Japanese, and if nothing else had clued me in enough to my reincarnation, that was surely the deal breaker since I had been living in America before.

I wanted to smile, but my muscles weren’t under my complete control at the moment, so I could only manage a small twitch of my lips. There was an amazed ‘ _ooh_ ’ before I felt a hand wrap over mine. It was smaller than my mother’s so it had to be the person beside her. My new sibling.

My father chuckled, “He’s cute, isn’t he?”

The language came to me instantly, as if I had known it my whole life, when really I only knew English and a few words in Spanish. As astounding as that fact was, what really caught me was the pronoun that had been used to address me.

‘ _Male pronouns. I was born as my gender? I don’t have to start all over again?_ ’ I wanted to cry, but tried to restrain myself. If I let loose even the smallest tear, I knew that my child’s body would turn it into a loud tantrum that would only serve to stress my family (and ruin this sweet moment).

“Yes!” The child replied. My family’s voices were beginning to grow softer the more I drifted further into unconsciousness, my body growing tired once again. “I’m a _nii-san_ now?”

“That’s right, Sasori-kun.” That was my mother’s voice… “This is your little brother, Kyojin.”

 

* * *

 

As a teenager in my past life, there was a brief period where I found myself completely obsessed with anime and manga.

I had seen thousands of episodes, read multiple chapters, and owned various kinds of merchandise. I was a fan of plenty, but there was one _single_ series that I had been attached to since before I even knew it was an anime: Naruto.

Naruto was an anime/manga that plenty of people knew about. Young, old— it didn't matter because somehow, there was a chance that they’d have heard of it. You may not have remembered it, but it had most likely crossed your mind at one point.

So, despite how long it had been since I had read or watched the series, it wasn't hard for me to conclude where exactly I had been reborn. As the moment I began to see clearly with my brand new eyes, I nearly had a heart attack when I came face to face with none other than Akasuna no Sasori.

Well, he hadn't exactly received that title _yet_ , but it was hard to miss those familiar droopy eyes and his disheveled red hair. My parents were behind him, smiling down at me in all their glory. For some reason, I smiled back— as if their happiness was contagious.

Sasori grinned down at me, and even though he was only four-years-old (or around that age) I could see genuine intelligence in his eyes, mixed with the sincere love he was unknowingly shedding onto me. This kid was like a beacon of light, and right away I could feel some sort of _connection_ between us. Perhaps it was a bond between brothers, or maybe it was something else. Either way, it made me feel closer to him and in return, I could tell he already felt close to me. “Say, _Saso-nii_.”

My mother laughed, pulling Sasori up into her arms as my father scooped me up in his. The two of them brought my brother and I closer together, making it possible for Sasori to actually reach out and touch me. Shaking her head in amusement, mother kissed the side of Sasori’s head, “I don’t think Kyo-chan can speak just yet. He just opened his eyes, little one.”

Suddenly, the small redhead’s eyes widened as he pointed at my face. “We have the same color eyes!”

“You do,” Mother nodded, gently patting me on the head, “Can you tell he has your Kaa-san’s hair also?”

“No— Kyo doesn’t have any hair…” Both of my parents chuckled, brushing up against my brother as they exchanged amused glances. Sasori looked up at them in confusion, a small frown forming on his lips when he began to think they were making fun of him. “Look,” He began to fuss, gesturing at my head. “Nothing’s there!”

Though I was _kind of_ being insulted, I couldn’t help but let out a small amused gurgle along with my father and mother. Sasori was just too cute for his own good sometimes and a part of me wanted him to stay like this forever. I hoped that Sasori would remain the innocent child he currently was, and would never turn down the twisted dark path that he took in canon, which eventually led to his death.

If I had to give myself a goal in this new life, _that_ would be it. I would do all I could to keep Sasori sane and _alive_. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to prevent him from leaving in the end, but despite that, I would do whatever it takes to keep him breathing.

 

* * *

 

Chiyo became a constant presence in both Sasori and I’s life as soon as our parents were sent back into the frontlines. I’m sure she was around often _before_ my birth, but for now, her part in the family was new to me.

She was always there, holding me or speaking to me from where I lay in my crib. Every now and then she’d hoist Sasori into her arms and sit down in the rocking chair beside my bed, humming lullabies to us both as she rocked back and forth.

Chiyo was a sweet woman, however it was obvious to anyone that she was _still_ a badass kunoichi, whether she was retired or not. A fact I found out when I noticed her slipping poison into my food and drink. If I was any other person, reborn from a _normal_ world, I would probably be very alarmed by this. However I wasn’t a normal person, and instead was thankful that the woman was helping me develop an immunity for the various substances early on. For a moment I had wondered if I was too young for her to be doing this just yet, but even if the poison posed a huge problem, I knew Chiyo would give me the antidote before I was once again whisked to another life.

Of course, I wasn’t the only one that she was preparing for the tough life of a ninja; Sasori also seemed to be working with and around poisons. Obviously my brother had more experience with them than me, so it was no surprise when I saw Chiyo and him discussing a book about venomous animals in the Land of Wind. Sasori seemed to like the topic so much that he would even review what he learned with _me_ , as if I could reply to his findings. It was cute nonetheless.

Other than that little detail with poisons, my time as a baby was pretty normal, albeit painful and boring at times. My schedule was so ingrained into my brain that I began to count down the seconds until feeding time, playtime, and nap time. It wasn’t hard to memorize the pattern after a while and it sucked, because something like this reminded me of the repetitiveness of my former life. How everything was always the same: eat, sleep, _survive_ . This life could be kinder, but sticking with the same schedule was going to drive me _mad_.

The only eventful moments in my life happened whenever my mother and father managed to come home at the same time. Sometimes one was here for a week, while the other couldn’t come until the next one. Seeing them individually wasn’t bad, but when they were _together_...it really brought us together as a family.

The door opened and in walked my mother with a happy smile on her face as she peered down at me. She was still dressed in her battle gear, as she had been ever since she arrived back home a few days ago. I guess it was just a precaution in case she was told to leave early, because dad was doing the same.

“My little Kyo-chan~” She hummed, reaching into my crib to scoop me up. I was growing fast, and mom was probably relieved I still recognized her, what with how she’s never really here. I blame the war for that, though. Not her.

I cooed back at my mother, reaching up at her face with my hands. She laughed when one of my tiny fists patted her on the face, and rubbed her nose against mine. “Kaa-chan’s missed you so much, you know!” She held me up, making me giggle on reflex at the sensation. “Let’s make this _whole_ week a family week. Hopefully I can get Sasori-kun to put down his books, yes?”

Cheering at her statement, I was taken from my room and into the living room, where the rest of my small family was residing. Chiyo had Sasori in her lap as they read through a book together, while dad sat across from them with a blissful smile on his face.

At the sight, a warm feeling began to grow in my chest. Without my control a happy gurgle left my lips, and just like that everyone’s attention was on me.

My father stood up, an amused grin on his face as he held his arms out, ready to take me from mother. “What was that just now? Was that a _laugh_ , Kyo-chan?” He laughed, lightly tapping my nose.

Sasori was quick to join us, slipping off of Chiyo’s lap and promptly moved over to where we were. He tugged on father’s shirt, asking him to bring me closer to him. Laughing again, my father got down on one knee so Sasori was able to look at me perfectly. A small smile was on his face as he held his hand out, waiting for my stubby fingers to tightly take a hold of it. Which I did, obviously, because my baby mind was mesmerized by the appendage. “Good morning, Kyo-chan.”

It was morning? I could have sworn it was night. Then again, being in this body has kind of messed with my sense of time, since I’m usually sleeping or staring at the ceiling. Sasori lightly squeezed my hand, returning me to attention. “Say... _Saso-nii_.”

Every time we saw each other, this kid would try to coax that out of me, despite the fact that I could _barely_ even laugh just yet. Sasori was smart for his age, but it was times like these when I was reminded just how young he _really_ is.

“Not so fast, Sasori-kun.” Chiyo spoke, her presence only _now_ becoming obvious to me. The old woman was right beside my father, looking over his shoulder at me and Sasori. “Kyo-chan isn’t capable of speech just yet; you’re basically telling a rock to roll over at this point.” Right after that, she let out a loud, wheezy laugh that only _she_ could manage. If I could cringe right now, I would. Instead, the only thing a baby could do to show their distaste was cry so…guess what I did next.

Just like that, our happy family moment was put to an end _all_ because of an old hag’s cackle.

 

* * *

 

 

 _“Sarah. It’s not safe, sweetie. Please don’t go out there._ **_Please_ ** _.” A middle-aged woman pleaded, her hands gripped tightly to a bible. Their home shook from the poundings of the creatures outside. An unholy illness had spread across the world, and the woman believed it was the sign of the end of days._

_“I told you not to call me that.” A young adult with brown hair and calloused hands said quietly. His anger was soft and silent, but if more fuel was added...surely he’d explode._

_The woman cried harder, and the cries of the dead outside grew louder. If she looked out the window, she’d see a familiar face. “Oh honey, please don’t be like that. What would your father think—”_

_“My_ **_father_ ** _, would call me by my fucking_ **_name_ ** _. Like a real parent.” The brunette sneered, holding the cleaver in his hands more securely when he heard a window tremble beneath the dead's fists. “My name is_ **_Daniel_ ** _.”_

_“My baby girl—”_

_“Has never even existed! Just shut the hell up and go upstairs with Max. It’s safer there.” Daniel and his father had been the ones to take charge ever since the attacks began to happen. At the beginning of everything, Daniel and a bunch of his colleagues had been assigned to work on a cure, but after an outbreak in the lab...everyone returned home to be with their families._

_Daniel’s mother was ready to protest and scream some more; ready to look even more mad than she did already, with her blonde hair sticking to her face and her eyes wide with fear and sorrow. A voice from upstairs interrupted her, “Mama._ **_Please_ ** _come up here with me, I’m scared!” The young boy, no older than ten, was crying and nearly_ **_wheezing_ ** _as he called down to his mother._

 _Daniel glanced at his little brother once and clenched his jaw. The fact that these undead creeps were scaring his brother only made him want to go out there and bash their heads in even_ **_more_ ** _. His mother looked between him and Max before finally nodding her head, “Fine, but you better be careful, my dear. I don’t want you to share the same fate as your father. He tried to get rid of them too and—”_

_“I know, but now it’s different,” Daniel interrupted with a hard glare. “Papa wasn’t aiming for the head...and we know that that’s what we have to do now.” His mother whimpered, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder, but Daniel stepped back without giving her a glance. Giving her child one more look, his mother stepped upstairs and ushered her youngest into a room they had used to stockpile all of their supplies._

_Daniel rolled his shoulders, eyeing the front door in resolution. This would either save his family, or doom them all to the disease. Their lives were in his hands, and the brunette would rather die than fail them. His father had done that when he rushed outside ignorantly and tried to stab the intruders to death, but they were already dead and now so was he._

_The front door opened, and Daniel stepped outside where the hands of the dead welcomed him._

**。。。**

I didn’t know I was awake until my mother came rushing into the room, her brown hair tangled and disheveled from where she had been sleeping. Even though I was now in her protective hold, my loud wails wouldn’t stop and I knew she couldn’t figure out why.

I wasn’t hungry and my diaper wasn’t soiled, so what could it be? Maybe a bad dream that she could simply help ease my young mind out of, but no… there wasn’t enough love in the world to ward off terrible memories.

This wasn’t the first time I was burdened with terrible nightmares — _memories_ — that involved my past, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. However, after waking up this time...something felt different. Or more like, I finally took _notice_ of something that dwelled within me, and everybody in this world really.

Chakra.

 

* * *

 

Upon finally unlocking (or sensing) my chakra, I began to cautiously experiment with it whenever I was alone and had nothing better to do. Once my parents were deployed again, I was usually left with Chiyo, Sasori, or a genin team that had taken a mission to babysit me.

Since Sasori would be attending Sunagakure’s ninja academy in only a matter of months, he had begun to train and study more than usual. Normally he’d do those things by himself, but occasionally Chiyo would assist him whenever she was free and when I had a babysitter.

When Chiyo wasn’t watching me or training Sasori, she was off on a mission to make sure we’d have a steady income while our parents were away, fighting in the war. Months had passed since they were last here, and Sasori was now five years old while I was one. Since becoming one, I had learned how to walk and had _slowly_ begun to start talking. I still had some trouble forming and pronouncing words, but that was beside the point (despite my troubles with it, Sasori was _very_ happy that my first word happened to be _Saso_ ).

I had no problem with the lack of family time due to my fixation on my chakra system. At first, I was only feeling it and overall just trying to get used to it. Once I became comfortable with it, I tried to sense things with it and see how far I could stretch it out before I began to feel tired. Right now I could only sense chakra _within_ the house, and possibly a foot outside it if I truly tried. Next step was to try and start molding it, or to possibly do something akin to the leaf exercise with one of my many toys.

I had quite the hoard of things piling up in my closet, as ever since I began to crawl (about a week ago) I developed a habit to...take things and keep them for myself. Maybe I was a kleptomaniac, or perhaps it was just something I picked up from my old life. Scavenging was a _huge_ thing in my other world, mostly so after everything went to hell. So far I had quite the few trinkets in my collection: a couple pens and some notebooks from my father’s study; various hair ties that were both my mother’s and Chiyo’s; and some ninja wire coils that Sasori had gotten at some point. I had multiple other items, but they weren’t anywhere _near_ as useful.

Just as I was about to begin my nightly practise, the door to my room was opened. A small, five-year-old Sasori peered in before entering fully. The door shut behind him, and the redhead was quick to move toward my crib. Using my chakra, I sensed that Chiyo was down the hall and in the living room...another chakra signature was with her, but it wasn’t familiar to me so I paid it no mind.

“Kyo…” Sasori spoke quietly to me, wrapping his little hands around the bars of my crib. “ _Kyo_ .” His voice sounded desperate this time, making me confused. Blinking, I tried to adjust to the room’s darkness and when I finally did, it was to meet Sasori’s _teary_ brown eyes. I wanted to speak, but I was still having trouble forming words and pronouncing them. Instead, all I could do was offer my hands as I held them out towards my brother. Sasori took them both gently, yet as firmly as a five-year-old could manage, “I love you, Kyo-chan.”

I didn’t know what was wrong or what had happened, but the sincerity in Sasori’s voice was enough to make me only focus on _him_ . My older brother, someone who had become feared and _infamous_ in another life, was _crying_ and telling me that he loved me. Not once had I heard those three words come out of his mouth; not in front of me at least. It hurt to see him in such a state, and I wanted nothing then but to be my _true_ age at this moment instead of some stupid infant that had only recently turned one. That way I could hold and comfort my supposedly older brother and help in whatever way I could.

“Sasori-kun, Kyo-chan…” Chiyo was in the doorway, and feeling around I could sense that the foreign chakra signature was nowhere to be found within our house. Our grandmother stepped further into the room and shut the door behind her. Her voice stayed calm and silent, acting as something foreboding that I did _not_ enjoy at all.  Slowly she stepped closer to us, and I could feel Sasori’s hold tighten on my hands. “I have something I need to tell you two.”

It seemed like my brother already knew what Chiyo had to say, because I could see his lips begin to tremble. “It’s…” Chiyo paused for a moment to take a breath, and chose that time to place a hand on Sasori’s shoulder and another on top of Sasori’s hands, which were still holding tightly to mine. “It’s about your parents.”

She didn’t have to finish that sentence for me to know that my new life was already beginning to crumble, leaving me to wonder when it would finally come crashing down.

 

* * *

 

Life after our parents’ death seemed to be the same— for my part anyway. The two hadn’t been around often, so it was as if they were still gone and fighting in the war. I remained slightly unaffected by my loss, and I believe that was because I probably didn’t even _believe_ that my father and mother were dead. I was in denial because I hadn’t seen it happen; that I hadn’t seen their corpses or anything. My attitude didn’t raise any alarm bells, as to everyone else, I was just a baby.

On the night we received the news, I guess Sasori had overheard Chiyo being told, and had quickly run to my room right after. The news had hit him pretty hard and I knew this _not_ just because of the way he cried and bawled that night, but because the next day he looked so _empty_. If he had cried more, then it was in private because there was no sign of such a thing on his face. His movements were almost robotic as he continued to do his daily routines without a care in the world.

Chiyo noticed the change in my brother. She saw that he was no longer radiating happiness, or giving away small smiles. His face was just blank, and when he met your eyes...it was like he was looking right through you. So due to him not taking things well, Chiyo began to teach him about puppetry in hopes that it would lift his spirits.

It seemed to work, because once Sasori got the hang of it he threw himself into the art. My brother was a real prodigy when it came to it, because soon he was able to make puppets himself. He started off with small ones, made more for amusement than actual battle. I wondered for awhile what their purpose was, but my confusion was quickly cleared when Sasori entered the living room one day with  all of his small puppets.

“Want to see my puppets, Kyo?” Sasori asked me, a small smile on his face as he looked down at me. I was practicing my writing in one of the coloring books Chiyo had bought me, but since Sasori obviously had something more fun in mind, I was quick to drop everything and focus on him.

“Yes!” I exclaimed, clapping my ink-stained hands.

Sasori’s smile grew at my excitement, and that’s when he made the puppets _dance_. His fingers moved swiftly as he directed the chakra strings that were connected to the puppets, making them do as he willed. I laughed and watched the puppets closely, not wanting to miss a single thing.

* * *

**story rec:** “for whom the bell tolls” written by _cywscross_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that’s the first chapter! that last part originally wasn’t going to be put in but i felt like i should go ahead and show how everyone was taking the change... you’ll be seeing more flashbacks/dreams concerning kyojin’s life before this one and how things from that life affect kyojin, despite being away from it all.
> 
> this chapter has been beta’d by [fortheloveofb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofb/pseuds/fortheloveofb) and i could not be more happy to call her my beta. please go check her and her stories out. she’s not only an amazing editor, but also an amazing writer!


	2. words can be weapons

Once Sasori began to attend the Ninja Academy, I started to see less of him at home. It wasn’t because he _wasn’t_ there— it was more of an issue with our differing schedules. Due to my two-year-old body, I just wasn’t able to make it through the day without at least one nap. Add on the fact that I went to sleep at a ridiculously early time... So, it wasn’t really a surprise when I always managed to miss Sasori. The only time I really got to see him was in the morning when he was getting ready to leave for the Academy.  He came home for lunch, but I was usually taking a nap at that time— and once his classes were _over_ , Sasori would go off to train.

In short, I was beginning to _really_ miss spending time with my brother. Maybe his absence wouldn’t make me ache so badly if Chiyo was around more too. Instead, the old woman seemed just as busy as my six-year-old brother. Honestly, I saw more of her than I did Sasori though. Our Kage had recently admonished Chiyo for taking missions when she was _supposed_ to be retired. The woman had been ranting about the meeting all day once she had returned home, going on about how the man threatened to put her back on active duty if she wanted to do ninja work so badly. I was pretty sure that the only reason she had been taking missions in the first place was so that she wouldn’t have to apply for a ‘ _boring civilian’_ job.

Either way, both of my precious family members were always busy with _something_. Their schedules had been busy for a time, but they had only _really_ picked up once mother and father died. A part of me assumed this was their way of coping, and another considered that it was just a coincidence. Truth be told I didn’t really care— not right now anyway. _Definitely_ not right now. If those two assholes were actually home for once, I wouldn’t need an annoying babysitter that couldn’t leave me alone for a _second_ to work on my chakra training.

After I turned two, Chiyo ceased hiring genin teams to watch me— instead, she enlisted the help of civilians (whose prices were _extremely_ cheaper). Having three little genin watch over me was no problem, because they were _ninja_ and didn’t fret over every little thing, or care if I wandered off on my own for a bit. They did their own thing while I did mine, knowing that if anything was wrong they’d be able to sense it (either by my distressed cry or my unstable chakra). Now with a _civilian_? Things were completely different.

My usual babysitter was a civilian girl named Ruri Akishita. She had a plain and dull appearance, as did most people in Suna. I probably looked just as boring, but I’m pretty sure my adorable features made up for it. Her hair was long and pinpoint straight, taking on a dark brown color that _could_ have looked better on her if it weren’t for her sunburned scalp (I recoiled often when she got too close, wanting to be as _far_ away as I could from the flakes that were shedding off into her hair). Ruri’s eyes were just as bland, as they matched her hair color to a T. Not only did she _look_ boring, but she acted boring as well. Her mannerisms, personality, and even _voice_ were all parallel to each other and it drove me _mad_.

“Kyojin!” As if the stupid girl had heard my thoughts, she rounded the corner and entered Sasori’s room (which was acting as today’s hiding spot; obviously it didn’t work so well). Ruri gave me a disapproving look as she hefted me up into her arms, “What did I tell you about running off like that! You’re supposed to stay in my sight at _all_ times— _Hey_ , and is that one of your brother’s books?” She lightly kicked at the large book that I had just been reading a second ago, obvious distaste on her features when she caught sight of the title: _History of Sunagakure._

I grunted, not even bothering to voice a response. Ruri sighed loudly and trudged out of Sasori’s room, continuing her rant as she walked through the house. “Honestly, what were you doing in there anyway? There’s no way you were _reading_ that big boring book, so what gives?” _Blah, blah, blah_. The girl could go on for hours, jumping from one topic to the next. She’d start off scolding me and then end the conversation with a praise.

Soon we were in the kitchen, Ruri placing me in one of the chairs at the table so that she could start on dinner. I was _sure_ that she was going to continue talking, but the sound of the front door opening hushed her before she could say anything. I didn’t have to look to see who had walked in, having already sensed my brother’s chakra a few minutes  before he had even reached our home. “Nii-sama!” I cheered, sliding out of the chair so that I could greet Sasori.

I latched onto my brother as soon as I could, my small body doing nothing to hinder his movements as he slipped off his shoes in the entryway. “Kyo,” Sasori greeted me kindly, a small smile on his face as he ruffled my hair a bit. “How was your day?”

A frown marred my features, and that seemed like a good enough answer because Sasori began to smile in amusement. “Bad.” I said with a clipped tone, glaring at the entryway of the kitchen.

Ruri was quick to show up after that, trying to act as if she _hadn’t_ been eavesdropping the whole time. The civilian had a huge _innocent_ smile on her face; it was so big that I was getting pissed off by just looking at it… “Sasori-kun!” She exclaimed, reaching out a hand to ruffle the redhead’s hair. My brother swiftly dodged her attempt at affection, a blank expression on his face as he regarded her. Ruri’s smile tightened and she laughed nervously, “A-Anyway, you’re home just in time! I just started dinner— it should be ready by the time your obaa-san gets home.”

Sasori grunted, turning his attention back to me. He ruffled my hair once more before disappearing down the hall to his room— to do homework or study most likely. Once he was out of sight, I stuck my tongue out at Ruri and smirked before toddling away to join him.

* * *

 

“Saso-nii, _please_.”

“No, Kyojin. You’re not old enough to go yet.”

“I don’t _wanna_ be a stu’ent! I just wanna go with _nii-sama!_ ” I groaned, refusing to remove myself from Sasori’s back. My arms were wrapped around his neck securely as I whined into it. Last night I slept with Sasori with the intention of ambushing him in the morning with a special request.

Sasori sighed, gently pulling me off of him and placing me on his bed. I proceeded to pout, gripping at the sheets in a pitiful attempt to keep my ‘ _tears_ ’ at bay. Before my brother could leave for the Academy, I had begged him to let me come with him. I couldn’t take anymore of Ruri’s presence and just wanted a _break_ — plus I’d get to spend time with Sasori and see what Suna’s Academy was like compared to Konoha’s.

“Kyo…” My brother began carefully, looking into my brown eyes with utmost care. “If I take you—” A huge smile covered my face, and I looked ready to squeal out of pure joy. Sasori was quick to cut me off however, giving me a serious look. “— _If_ I take you, you have to promise to behave. You can’t run off or disrupt the class.”

Right away I was nodding, willing to do anything if it meant I could escape Miss Boring Babysitter. “You got it, Saso-nii!” I exclaimed, grinning.

Sasori placed a finger to my mouth, shushing me. “Quiet. If you want to come with me, we’re going to have to slip by Akishita-san. Now hurry and get dressed— _remember_ ; I don’t like to be kept waiting.”

“‘Kay!” I slid off of Sasori’s bed and slipped out his door. Ruri’s chakra was in the kitchen, where she was preparing breakfast most likely. With her location known, I felt at ease as I moved across the hall and into my room. After getting ready, I met back up with Sasori who was now in the kitchen with Ruri, eating his breakfast. I sat down beside him, ignoring Ruri as I smiled at my brother. “Good mor’ing, nii-sama!”

Ruri was quick to latch onto my words, pouting as she placed a bowl of rice in front of me. “Hey, what about me, Kyo-chan? I made you breakfast!” She sat down across from me with her own bowl of food. “Also, you shouldn’t be addressing Sasori-kun as ‘nii- _sama_ ’! He’s just your older brother; no need to treat him like a Kage.”

I rolled my eyes, resisting the urge to kick her under the table. Glancing at Sasori, I could tell he was less than pleased with her little _comment_. He actually liked being called ‘nii-sama’ and found it cute that I looked up to him so much. “Akishita-san—” He started, but was of course interrupted by Ruri’s loud chatter.

“Oh, don’t call me that! Ruri-chan is just fine, Sasori-kun~”

“...Akishita-san.” Sasori picked up where he left off, “I will ask once that you don’t correct Kyo’s mannerisms again.” There was a threat hanging off of that sentence, but the six-year-old didn’t bother to voice it, leaving it to Ruri to figure it out. Of course she was too stupid to however, and pressed on.

“Hmph, it’s _Ruri-chan_ .” She stuffed her face full of rice before finally speaking again. “And I can do as I _wish_ , Sasori-kun. I’m the one in charge here after all— since I’m the oldest.” Tch, she was probably only fifteen. “I’m only trying to help Kyo-chan get a hang of his grammar and _manners_.”

Sasori smiled coldly then, slipping out of his seat despite the fact that there was still plenty of rice left in his bowl. He gathered his bag and made for the door (ignoring the lunch Ruri had made him completely), but not before giving me a knowing look. “I’m leaving now. See you after school, Kyo.”

I nodded, slipping out of my own chair to give Sasori a hug. He returned it with one arm, absently pecking my forehead before finally slipping out the door. Rubbing the spot he kissed, I couldn’t help but smile; it wasn’t often that he would plant one on me, not since mother and father died— he even stopped referring to me as ‘ _kyo-chan_ ’.

“S-Sasori-kun—!” Ruri jumped out of her seat, scrambling for my brother’s lunch before trying to catch him at the door. “W-Wait!” She was too slow however, and by the time she reopened our front door, Sasori was nowhere in sight. “Tch, darn it.” She muttered before returning back inside, giving me a pointed look. “Just because your brother skipped out on breakfast, doesn’t mean _you_ get to. Go finish your rice, Kyo-chan.”

“Sure, Ruri- _chan_ ~” I chirped, making her smile at my obedience. With a smile still on my face, I returned to the table— only I made no attempt to climb back up into my chair and instead looked back at Ruri. Meeting her brown eyes with my own, I swiftly knocked all three bowls of rice off of the table and onto the floor with a noisy clatter. The smile on Ruri’s face disappeared in a flash. “ _Oops!_ ” I giggled, quickly running off to my room.

“ _Kyojin!_ ” Ruri practically screeched, caught between chasing after me or quickly cleaning up the mess I made. If anything, she’d probably reach the conclusion that _I_ should be the one to clean it up, leading her to march straight to my room any second now. Too bad for her I had locked the door and was already preparing to slip out my window. Sasori was crouched down beside it outside, but he stood up at my arrival.

“What did you do?” Sasori asked me with a pleased smirk once my feet touched the ground. He eyed the door to my room, which was now shaking with how much force Ruri was using to bang on it. Distantly we could hear her yelling, but it was muffled due to the walls between us.

“Nothin’ she didn’t deserve.” I replied easily, slipping my hand in Sasori’s. We began to head to the Academy, which surprisingly wasn’t too far from our home. I was never out of the house much, so the sights of Suna were still a bit new to me. Tearing my gaze from the small market in the center of town, I looked up at Sasori. “What are you goin’ to do to Ruri-chan?”

Sasori gave me a sly look (something you don’t see often on a six-year-old) before repeating the same thing I had said just a moment before; albeit with much better grammar. “Nothing she won’t deserve.”

**。。。**

We arrived at Sasori’s classroom, and even though it was a little early for anyone to be there (meaning classes didn’t start for another hour) the classroom was nearly _packed_ with kids. They all looked like they were waiting for something, but it became apparent to me when they noticed Sasori’s presence, that they weren’t waiting for some _thing_ , but for some _one_.

I’d laugh at the fact that my older brother seemed to have some _admirers_ if the sudden onslaught of people didn’t scare the crap out of me. Seeing so many people rush towards me caused flashbacks to my other life, where it wasn’t _people_ coming towards me— but the undead.

A small squeak left my mouth as I took cover behind Sasori, who fortunately seemed to sense my discomfort and gladly acted as my human shield (even if all those kids were after _him_ and not me). One of his hands was holding mine as he faced the multiple boys and girls in front of him. It wasn’t him who spoke first, but a young a girl with black hair tied in two pigtails. “Good morning, Sasori-kun!”

Like a domino effect, the one girl’s greeting caused the rest of the kids to exclaim one as well. Sasori was obviously annoyed more by the sheer volume of their voices than the attention itself. I squeezed his hand, cautiously peeking my head out from behind him, “Saso-nii?”

The chattering came to halt, and all eyes settled on me. I thought I was going to be eaten alive until a chorus of ‘ _awes_ ’ filled the room. Amazing how these puny twerps thought _I_ was cute, when they obviously still fell into that category at this age.

“Hey, Sasori-kun has a baby brother!” A young boy with sandy blonde hair came forward and announced the obvious. He grinned and bent down a bit to match my height. “ _Wow_ , you’re just as pretty as Sasori-kun…” The boy reached forward, looking like he was going to touch my hair— only for Sasori to lash out and slap his hand away.

The boy recoiled with a surprised yelp, looking at my older brother with wide eyes. Sasori merely glared back at him before pushing me back behind him. “ _Don’t_ touch him. He’s _my_ little brother.”

Not wanting this to escalate any further, I tugged on Sasori’s hand to get his attention. He took his time addressing me, choosing to linger on the poor boy that made the mistake of getting too close. “Saso-nii, we sit down now?” I began to bounce on my feet impatiently, making the redhead roll his eyes before he guided me to his desk (briskly ignoring the crowd that was still in front of us).

I was ushered into the seat closest to the wall, while Sasori took the one next to me. He put his bag on the long stretch of desk, ready to unload his needed supplies for the day. Around us, the other children were already chattering among themselves once again and returned to their seats.

“Remember,” Sasori turned back to me with his usual blank expression. “Be good.”

I nodded obediently, showing teeth as I tried to convey that I was going to be the _personification_ of goodness. “Got it, nii-sama!” My loud outburst only earned a glare. “Oh! S-Sorry…” I laughed sheepishly, shrinking into myself a bit. Forgot to be _quiet_...yeah.

As we waited for the hour to pass by, Sasori explained to me what he had been learning in _great_ detail so that I’d be able to soak up as much information as possible. Though the things he was learning were based more around reading, writing, history, mathematics…surprisingly normal things.

Since I was already _somewhat_ familiar with how to read, write, and do maths— I focused only on my brother's explanation on Suna’s history. From my past life, the only place I really knew a lot about was Konoha and well, that knowledge didn’t look like it’d be useful anytime soon.

“Huh,” A voice sounded near the room’s entrance. “Once again, most of you are already here…”

Sasori didn’t bother to glance up at the instructor’s arrival, but various other students did— greeting the man with a _’good morning, kai-sensei’_.

“I guess it is.” He sighed, tucking the loose strands of his black hair under his hitai-ate, which he wore like a bandana. “Anyway, I guess we’ll wait for the rest of your classmates to get here before starting…” He trailed off, slowly gazing around the room while he scratched stuff off on a clipboard (probably doing roll call). Kai’s gray eyes slid to a stop on my form, prompting me to smile innocently and wave.

“Mor’ing, Kai-sensei!”

“Uh… Sasori-san, why don’t you introduce us to your new seatmate?”

My brother slowly gave Kai his attention, blinking once before giving an explanation to my presence. “This is my little brother, Kyojin. He wanted to see what the Academy was like so I let him come with me.”

“Okay… So Kyojin-san, you’re not gonna be a pain are you?”

I shook my head, giving a close-lipped smile before I replied. “No! I’m good, sensei!”

Kai shrugged, seeming satisfied with my answer. “Alright then. Just know that your little visit here is only going to be a one time thing until you actually enter the Academy. _Also_ , don’t expect to be included in any activities— you’re just a shadow for now, got it?”

“Uh huh.” I nodded, looking serious as I met the chūnin’s eyes with my own. He hummed in response before continuing with checking who was here or not. Sasori had gone quiet beside me, not bothering to resume his little teaching session from before. This made me frown, and I pulled at his shirt to get his attention. “Nii-sama…?”

“Class is starting soon. I’ll finish telling you about this stuff at lunch, okay?” My brother explained, looking at me in the corner of his eye and giving me a reassuring smile.

“Un!”

* * *

 

Lunch time came, but instead of being tutored some more on our village’s history— I got to see what Ruri looked like when she was completely panicked. This was equally satisfying however.

“There you are!” The civilian girl screeched. She was out of breath, and her hair was a mess. All in all she looked hysterical, much to Sasori and I’s amusement. “Have— Have you been here the whole _time_!?”

We both stared numbly up at Ruri from where we sat in the shade of the Academy building. “Yes.” I replied, as if there wasn’t anywhere else I could have been.

Ruri grit her teeth, her fear and concern becoming overwhelmed by pure rage. “ _Urgh, you—_ Come on, I’m taking you home!” She stepped forward with her arms stretched out towards me. Before she could make a grab at me however, Sasori quickly jumped up and moved us away.

“Leave Kyo alone.”

“Sasori- _kun_ ,” The brunette nearly cried, “Please don’t be like this. Your obaa-san will be absolutely _livid_ if she finds out I lost one you.”

“I know.” Ruri lunged at us again, but Sasori easily sidestepped her. It was painful how slow she was moving, but I guess that was a given due to her civilian status.

Other students were watching us now, and a few had even gathered around to watch (at a safe distance from the crazy lady of course). I even spotted one of the teachers slowly approach us, a confused expression on her face as if she didn’t really know how to label the current situation.

“Kyojin, come here right _now_!” Our babysitter shouted, stomping her foot into the sandy ground (so it was hardly intimidating).

I raised a single eyebrow before dramatically clutching to Sasori and screaming at the top of my lungs. On cue, tears sprung from my eyes as I pleaded for help. “No! Please make ‘er stop! Make ‘er go away!”

Just like that, the available chūnin instructors appeared in front of us. I recognized Kai as one of them, and the female that was originally approaching earlier. While Kai and two others confronted Ruri, Sasori and I were escorted away from the area by two other instructors.

Ruri was yelling at Kai and the others to let her go. That she had to take me now, or she’d get in trouble— that I wasn’t supposed to have left her sight in the first place. Maybe if she wasn’t so wired, Ruri could have worded her explanation less suspiciously, but alas...it was too late for that now.

* * *

 

Sasori and I exchanged knowing looks as we were led back into the Academy building.

Chiyo came home early that day after she had to leave work to confirm that _yes_ , Ruri was our babysitter and that _no_ , she wasn’t a crazy civilian trying to snag a child. It was hard to tell if Chiyo was upset at what we did to Ruri, or if she was extremely amused. Either way, the girl quit and I was now stuck without a babysitter— which was fine with me.

“I don’ need a sitter.” I explained to my grandmother as she prepared dinner that night. Sasori was in his room doing homework, so we were the only ones in the kitchen currently.

Chiyu _hmph_ ed rather loudly, “That’s what you think, but if you were left here alone, how would you fix yourself anything to drink or to eat? You can’t reach any of the shelves or cabinets.” The woman looked at me in the corner of her eye as she smirked, “Maybe you don’t _want_ a babysitter, but you do _need_ one.”

I huffed, crossing my arms in front of me. If that wasn’t reason enough for me to have a sitter, then I’m sure Chiyo had plenty more. With a childish frown still in place, I took a seat at the table. “...So what now?”

“Well, if I can’t find another _civilian_ to watch you; I’ll have to start requesting for genin teams again. That means more money to pay and—”

“Less time wit’ us. I _know._ ” I huffed, sinking lower in the chair.

Chiyo chuckled lowly, obviously pleased with herself. “Good. I’m glad you understand then, Kyo-chan.” The woman focused on dinner then, beginning to hum as she worked. Resting my head on the table, I watched her with a content smile. In the end I didn’t get my way, and yet I didn’t mind at all.

。。。

_Daniel ran through his front yard; the yard he grew up playing and running around in. It was no longer the well-maintained plot of land that it used to be; instead it was covered with grass that scratched your ankles, and gore that seemed endless._

_He swung at the zombies that tried to catch him, stabbing one in the neck with his cleaver, and another directly in the head. At first, he struggled to remove the blade from the skull, but with a kick to the dead thing’s chest, it slid right out._

_Daniel grimaced a bit at the sound it made before continuing to run away from the many other zombies that had taken refuge in his yard. He had to protect his mother and Max. They were all he had left, and he wasn’t going to lose them to these...these_ **_things_ ** _._

_“Fuck off!” He yelled angrily, taking down another walker. Running around in circles was making him dizzy, but he did his best to work past it. There were probably five zombies left, and his arms were already starting to ache._

_Daniel leapt back, nearly tripping over a toy that belonged to his brother, as a zombie fearlessly lunged at him. He inhaled sharply at how close its jaws came to his arm, quickening his steps. Maybe he could lure them to the backyard and then signal for his mother and Max to make a run for it. Their car was_ **_right_ ** _there; so close and yet, so far._

_Turning on his heel, the male pushed forward into his backyard. The zombies followed him closely, his grip tightening on the knife’s handle as his palms began to sweat, making things slippery._

_As soon as he rounded the corner, Daniel regretted it. He froze in place at the large_ **_number_ ** _of walkers that were clambering around the backyard. Since the yard was so small, the things were all clustered together. And at the very front of the group, with his intestines hanging out of his body, was Daniel’s father. A man he had_ **_just_ ** _seen hours ago._

 _“D-D-Dad?” His lips trembled, and the cleaver fell from his grip. He wanted to go forward and grasp his father’s shoulders. Wanted to shake him out of this stupid illusion, because_ **_surely_ ** _this wasn’t happening. Daniel had seen his father disappear within a horde of zombies, but some part of him continued to hope that he was alive, despite the terrible odds._

_Seeing was believing, however._

_“No—_ **_NO!_ ** _” With tears falling down his face, Daniel sprinted forward with newfound speed and stabbed the zombie in the head. There was no way he’d let the shell of his father continue to roam around in this hell._

_The zombies began to overwhelm him, but the adrenaline kept Daniel moving in a flurry. He continued to stab and kick at the zombies, screaming hysterically the whole time._

_“_ **_NO. NO. NO. NO!NO!NO!_ ** _”_

_A zombie latched onto his shoulders, pulling him forward as its jaw descended on his neck—_

“Wake up!”

Kyojin woke with a start, gasping as he sat himself up. His face was tear stained and his heart was beating rapidly. Absently, he placed a hand over it, his eyes still wide as he took in his surroundings.

He was awake; it was just a memory-turned-nightmare. Sasori was sitting on the bed beside him, one of his arms wrapped around Kyojin and rubbing his back— which was drenched in sweat.

“Are you okay?” Sasori asked, pure concern in his eyes as he looked at his brother.

The question seemed to affect Kyojin in some way, because his lips started to tremble and his eyes teared up once again. The brunette shakily nodded his head before latching onto Sasori like a leech, nearly knocking the poor boy off the bed. He held tightly to his brother’s shirt, sniffling as he sobbed into the fabric.

A sad look was on Sasori’s face, not liking that his little brother was reduced to a pile of tears. He didn’t know what the nightmare was about, but it was enough to utterly hurt Kyojin, and that was enough to make him upset too.

Sasori pulled Kyojin closer to him, helping the boy into his lap as he hugged him tightly. He wanted to reassure Kyo that he was here, and that everything would be okay now, because he’d protect him.

“Come on,” Sasori whispered, sliding off of the bed with Kyojin still in arms. “You can sleep with me tonight.”

The only answer he received was a slight nod as he returned to his room. Sasori silently laid Kyojin down on his bed before slipping under the blankets with him. Kyo curled into him, still clutching his shirt as he closed his eyes in an attempt to return to sleep.

Sasori remained awake, watching his brother carefully to make sure all was well. The redhead reached forward, wiping away the last of Kyo’s tears. Seeing him cry _hurt_ and Sasori hoped that something like this wouldn’t happen again.

As Kyo’s big brother, he’d be sure to eliminate anyone that causes him harm or pain. If they made his brother cry— they’re dead.

* * *

 

At age seven, Sasori graduated from Sunagakure’s Ninja Academy. Being three, I was ecstatic at my brother’s early graduation, but also a little unhappy that I wouldn’t be able to join the Academy for another three years at _least._ I was growing impatient; afraid that I’d be unprepared for the events to come.

Luckily I wouldn’t have to stress about it too much, as in celebration for Sasori’s achievement, Chiyo decided to take us to the shinobi-focused market.

We walked through the streets of the place, going slow enough to take in everything. I knew Chiyo and Sasori were looking for _specific_ things, while _I_ was just trying to find something cool enough to add to my growing hoard at home.

There were many kiosks set up, but there were also actual stores you could go in that were much bigger and probably had a better selection than the stands did. Though I’m sure the items sold at the kiosks were much cheaper.

Our first stop was a clothing store that sold only ninja-focused outfits and armor. All of the colors were pretty bland, matching with the dullness of our country’s desert. There was still a variety however, the colors ranging from tans and browns to soft maroons. The usual gray, black, and occasional white was also amongst the racks of clothing, but I knew Sasori wouldn’t pay them much attention unless he had to.

I stayed obediently at Chiyo’s side as we followed my brother around the store, watching as he’d stop to examine a piece of clothing before tossing it on his shoulder or put it back on the rack. After he got his desired outfits and pieces of armor, we bought the items and left to continue shopping.

“Nii-sama,” I tugged at Sasori’s sleeve before pointing at a carpenter’s shop. “You use pup’ets, right?”

Sasori followed my finger to where I was pointing, and a smile slowly grew on his face. With a nod, he ruffled my hair. “I do. Thank you for showing me the store, Kyo.”

I grinned, my cheeks heating up due to the pure happiness I felt at being praised by my older brother. From Sasori’s other side, our grandmother cackled, moving to pat us both on the head. “My, my— just look at how cute my two grandchildren are!”

I gaped a bit at her, my face growing even redder as I huffed and looked away in embarrassment. Sasori was much more stoic in his displeasure, merely giving Chiyo a blank look before he focused back on entering the carpenter’s shop. I quickly followed after him, leaving Chiyo to walk behind us as she continued to loudly cackle (scaring the passerbys who didn’t seem to be used to her behavior like others were).

The shop owner greeted us, though I think Chiyo was the only one to acknowledge him; Sasori too focused on finding materials for his puppets, and me too focused on him.

“What do you need, Saso-nii?” I asked, looking around the shop. It was practically filled from top to bottom with various types of wood, glass, metal, and other things such as bolts and screws. Tools were also on sale; available for those that needed them.

“Just some wood.” Sasori replied, eyeing the types of wood that were on display. Despite being in the desert, there was quite a selection. I had no idea that trees could exist in a desert, but plenty of tutoring from Sasori about puppet-making helped me realize it was entirely possible. There were plenty of trees out there, such as elephant trees, palo verde trees, and even ironwood trees. Sasori even took the time to go on about which wood worked best for making puppets, and which kind just didn’t make the cut.

As uninterested as I was with the topic, I knew that Sasori loved to talk about his puppets and how _artistic_ they were. Which was true, because puppeteers had to have _some_ kind of artistic ability to make puppets that were as beautiful and eccentric as Sasori’s were.

“Well then grab what you want, but don’t get greedy!” Chiyo warned from behind us, a hand patting at the pocket in which she kept her ryo.

“ _Yes_ , obaa-chan.” Sasori seemed to sigh in exasperation, gathering the things of wood he needed and already heading to the front counter.

After Chiyo bought all of the things Sasori wanted to make puppets with, we headed to what would probably be our last stop: the weapons store.

As expected, the place was crawling with shinobi and kunoichi: mostly newly made genin like Sasori. We ignored them, despite how persistent they seemed in getting my brother’s attention. I didn’t recognize any of the genin from his class, but then again, I didn’t remember anyone from there either.

Instead of sticking to Sasori like I usually did, I decided to split off when I noticed how intrusive the other genin were going to be (one practically threw themselves at Sasori’s feet in order to get his attention, but he merely stepped over them).

I browsed the many weapons and holsters that were around the store. Honestly, I was trying to find something Sasori might like. I wasn’t going to bother looking for basic things like a set of shuriken. or ninja wire, and instead was trying to find something _personal_. Kind of a hard thing to do in a weapons shop, but this was our last store and nothing had really caught my eye at any of the previous shops.

Finally though, my eyes settled on a shelf full of kunai pouches. It was obvious that someone had been shuffling through them, as they were in a rather large pile and not organized at all.

Among the pile, I managed to spot something that I _knew_ Sasori would like. Reaching into it, I pulled out the holster I was eyeing and smiled giddily. The pouch was made with simple colors and had an even simpler design stitched on the front of it: a scorpion. The small zipper on the pouch matched the design, making the little thing all the more special in my eyes.

I held the pouch close to my chest, quickly heading to where I last saw Chiyo and Sasori.

“Saso-nii!” I exclaimed when I caught sight of his mop of red hair. Running up to him, I clung to his side with one arm while the other hid the kunai pouch behind my back.

My brother stumbled a bit from my sudden impact. He looked at me curiously, “Is something wrong, Kyo?”

“Nope! Look what I found!” I stepped back and shoved the kunai pouch in front of me for Sasori to see. He seemed to look the thing over, taking in the design and structure of it. Slowly, a smile bloomed on his face— it even reached his eyes.

Sasori took the pouch from my hands, his smile still in place as he traced the scorpion design with his fingers. “It’s perfect…” He looked up and ruffled my hair with his hand. “Thank you, Kyo-chan.”

_Kyo-chan._

A laugh left my lips, and I grinned up at my brother. It had been so long since I’d heard him call me that, so it was hard to be anything other than happy.

“No pro’lem!” I chirped, clinging to his side once again.

* * *

 

“Kyojin!” Chiyo yelled to me from my room. Today was our unofficial cleaning day, and we were all assigned rooms to do. While I got to do the bathroom and living room, Sasori had to do his room and the kitchen. This left Chiyo with her room, father’s old study, and _my_ room.

_Uh oh._

Chiyo probably found my hoard… That’s the only thing worth screaming about in there anyway. It was only a matter of time before someone found it, as it took up most of my closet and _all_ of the space beneath my bed.

Sasori peeked into the living room from where he was in the kitchen, looking to me in amusement. He had been the first to figure out my hoarding habit, but had remained silent. I’d even caught him _adding_ to my collection of shiny things every now and then.

I huffed a bit and pointedly looked away as I walked down the hall. “...Yes?” I asked my grandmother quietly when I reached my room. Looking inside, I saw that my closet door was wide open— revealing part of my collection. So far it didn’t look like she had found the pile under my bed, thankfully.

Chiyo had her hands on her hips, a disapproving frown on her face. “What is all of _this?_ ” She roughly gestured to the trinkets.

Rocking on my heels and keeping my eyes to the floor, I mumbled, “That’s my collect’in.”

“Collection?! Of _what?_ It’s all just a bunch of junk!”

“No it’s not!” I was quick to protest, my voice _much_ louder than before. My eyes were now meeting Chiyo’s in a moment of courage, which quickly faded when the woman’s glare sharpened.

“Obaa-chan,” Sasori entered the room, intentionally acting as my saving grace. He placed a hand on my shoulder as he spoke to Chiyo, “Kyo, has had the habit of keeping things for awhile now— and it makes him happy, so I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

“Anything wrong with it?” Chiyo repeated in a disbelieving tone, “He’s hoarding _trash_ and taking up space! I will not tolerate a messy house.”

I started to sniffle, bringing out the crocodile tears as I clung to Sasori’s shirt and hung my head. “B-But that’s my favorite things…” Sasori sympathetically patted my head, “Baa-chan— _please_ let me keep ‘em!”

Chiyo watched me for a moment with calculating eyes, her foot tapping my bedroom floor as she thought things through. Finally she sighed and crossed her arms. “Alright, _but_ you better sort through it each month and get rid of crap you don’t really need. Once that pile becomes visible outside the closet, I’m throwin’ it all _out_.”

“Yes, baa-chan!” I exclaimed, bowing down gratefully with a huge grin on my face.

“Also,” She fingered something inside her pocket before pulling it out. A shiny brooch was presented to me, “Add this to your little ‘collection’ and take extra care of it.”

“Is it a family heirloom?” Sasori asked with wide eyes, staring at the accessory that was now in my hands with wonder.

“Eh?” Chiyo cocked a brow, “No, I just found it while on a mission. It looks too good to be sullied, so that’s why Kyo-chan needs to take care of it!” She burst into a fit of cackles then, finding the misunderstanding _hilarious_ for some reason.

Sasori and I sighed, but I silently promised to be careful with the brooch nevertheless. It’d be placed with the rest of the jewelry I was hiding away, which was in a steel box beneath my bed.

“Phew,” Once she calmed down a bit, Chiyo sighed and wiped her forehead. “Now, let’s get back to work!”

“Hai!” Sasori and I replied, quickly exiting my room to resume our cleaning.

* * *

**story rec:** “a god’s chessboard” written by _sylviaen-cross_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my lovely beta [fortheloveofb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofb/pseuds/fortheloveofb) strikes again and presents you with a lovely edited chapter.


	3. a lost cause

Time went by more slowly when Sasori became a genin. I barely saw him as it was, so now that he was a full time ninja our moments with each other lessened even more. Usually he was training with his sensei, off on a mission, or studying in his room at home.

A few months into this routine, I woke Sasori up before his usual time— intent on getting some attention.

“Saso-nii.” I hovered over his dozing form, a knee on either side of his body with my hands on his chest to keep myself balanced.

“Hn…” The redhead grunted tiredly. He was awake and aware of my presence, but obviously didn’t feel the need to do anything about it. Sighing, I placed my full weight on him and rested my head on his chest. A groan left him, making me smirk. “What is it, Kyo?”

“ _Saso-nii_ , p’ease spen’ the day with me!” I whined, nuzzling his chest and probably making my hair become even more messy than it originally was (fact of the day: Kyojin doesn’t believe in brushes).

Sasori sighed, lazily brushing a hand through my wavy brown tresses (frowning whenever his fingers got caught on a knot). “Sorry, Kyojin, but you know I have training with Ichirou-sensei today.”

I whined obnoxiously into his chest, “That’s what you say every time!” Lifting my head up to meet Sasori’s eyes, I pouted. “It’s my turn now!”

My brother looked stuck between becoming stern or becoming amused. Instead, he sighed again

but more loudly and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. “No, Kyo. I’m training with Ichirou-sensei no matter what…” At this I frowned pitifully, but Sasori continued, “.... _but_ , maybe you can come with me. Sensei has been wanting to meet you anyway.”

Gasping at the reveal, my brown eyes widened in delight as I hugged Sasori. “Yay! Thank you, _nii-sama_ ! I love you so _so_ much~!”

Laughing, Sasori lazily returned my hug, already drifting back to sleep now that the problem had been resolved. “I love you too, Kyo.”

。。。

We arrived at the sand-covered training grounds that Sasori and his sensei frequented around nine in the morning. Chiyo had seen us off, but not before shoving two breakfast bentos into our hands.

“Sasori-kun, early as always, I see…” Ichirou chirped in greeting. He was lying on a rock in the middle of the training ground, his eyes closed as he basked in the sunlight. No wonder his skin was so darkly tanned. “ _Oh_ , and is that another person I sense?” The man sat up and tilted his head to the side, allowing his sandy-blonde hair to fall across part of his face.

Oddly enough, his eyes remained closed. Apparently it was a normal enough occurrence however, as Sasori paid it no mind and merely grunted in reply before introducing me. “Ichirou-sensei, this is my little brother: Kyojin.”

Ichirou gasped loudly, a large smile on his face as he quickly slipped off of the rock. Soon he was in front of us— pinching my cheeks and ruffling Sasori’s hair at the same time. “Ah, it’s so nice to finally meet you, Kyo-chan! Sasori-kun has told me so much about you~ My name is Ichirou!”

“Un!” I grinned in reply once the man released my cheeks, “Ichi-sensei!”

“So _cute_ !” He practically cried, clasping his hands together. The blonde was spinning on the balls of his feet, and all I could do was watch in...disbelief? Surprise? I honestly couldn’t find a word to describe how I was feeling, but I knew that beside me, Sasori looked less than impressed. Ichirou sighed contently, finally coming to a stop. “Well, let’s get straight to training! Kyo-chan, you can warm-up with Sasori-kun if you like, but when the _real_ training starts, please go and wait in the shade, neh?”

I nodded, chirping my affirmation as I followed my brother’s lead. Ichirou wandered back over to the rock he was lying on previously, his eyes now open for the world to see. They were a dark brown, and _glossy._ Letting my childish side pull through, I tugged on Sasori’s sleeve before he could start to stretch. “Ano...Nii-sama, is Ichi-sensei blind?” Could I _be_ anymore subtle?

Sasori paused in his movements, turning his head a bit to meet my eyes. I didn’t miss the way he glanced at Ichirou, however. “Hm? Yes, he is, but—” A stern look took over his face then, reminding me just how powerful and infamous he was in a different timeline. “Don’t underestimate him. Ichirou-sensei is a very skilled shinobi, and despite his disability, he’s still very powerful.” This felt like a lecture instead of a verbal beating, so I didn’t allow myself to feel too offended by Sasori’s tone.

 _Don’t underestimate anyone_. I think that’s what he was trying to get across— which is kind of ironic, considering how his death was a result of him underestimating his opponents… That thought alone made my throat run dry. Sasori dying...it just wasn’t an option.

Sasori and I continued stretching; me copying everything he did. In my past life, I was sure to work out everyday in order to keep myself in shape… The fact that I was able to run fast and defend myself was what kept me alive for so long. It was that one moment of carelessness that ruined me, however.

“You two cuties finished?” Ichirou walked over to us, his hands clasped behind his back and that cheery smile still on his face.

I stretched my arms out one last time while Sasori nodded, standing up straighter. “Yes, Ichirou-sensei.”

“Great! Sasori-kun, start on your laps. Kyo-chan, you remember what I said earlier?”

Giving my best childish grin, I nodded and quickly ran to the spot in the shade that Ichirou had pointed out earlier. Now, all I could do was watch…or not. I still had the option to train with my chakra. My goal was to be at an average level by the time I entered the Academy, and even though I was making decent progress, I still wasn’t _there_ yet. I could still only sense chakra signatures that were half a mile away and no further; my control, on the other hand, was _extremely_ impressive. I could keep multiple things attached to myself for over an hour or so before I lost control.

So, with Sasori and Ichirou’s voices as my background noise, I set to work on training. My mind seemed to go into a meditative state as I focused on my chakra and controlling it. Using my other senses to help guide me, I slowly reached out with my chakra and began to pinpoint all the living things within the area; that I could get to anyway.

Ichirou was the person closest to me, while Sasori’s familiar chakra signature continued to brush up against the area where I couldn’t reach just yet. Unsurprisingly, they were the only two I could currently _feel_ , which meant it was time to _literally_ start expanding my horizons.

The moment I began to try and increase my range however, a harsh slap on the back snapped me out of it and knocked my small body over. “— _Oof_.”

“Sorry~ I didn’t realize you were so _small_ , Kyo-chan!” Ichirou apologized, his voice as cheery as ever. For a moment I was confused, because I could still sense that Ichirou was standing in the middle of the training ground, observing my brother. Then I remembered that _clones_ were a thing in this world, and sighed.

“No, it’s okay…” I mumbled, a pout on my lips as I tried to rub my now-sore back. “Ichi-sensei, is there somethin’ ya need?”

“Hm? Not really… I was just wondering what you were _doing_ , Kyo-chan. I can feel your chakra spreading over the area. Mm, maybe work on being more subtle next time.”

 _He could tell what I was doing?_ I felt my face heat up in embarrassment at being caught. Not that what I was doing was necessarily bad, but… I doubt adults would approve of a child toying with their chakra unsupervised or without them really knowing what they’re doing.

Shrugging, I nervously laughed. “Uh...oops?”

Ichirou merely chuckled, ruffling my hair as he looked down at me. “ _Yeah_ , ‘oops’. You’ve gotta be _careful_ with chakra, Kyo-chan! It’s a dangerous thing and not something to be playing with.” I wanted to protest and say that I _wasn’t_ playing with it, but I thought better of it. “Maybe when you get older, I can teach you a few things! I’m an _expert_ with chakra sensing~”

 _Right, because he’s blind._ With a huff, I poked out my lower lip to showcase my displeasure. “ _Okay_ , Ichi-sensei… I’ll stop playing with it.”

“Great,” the man laughed before poking my cheek, “I’m going to go now; try and focus on Sasori-kun! Maybe you’ll learn a few things.”

Dubiously, I nodded my head as Ichirou’s clone dispersed in a cloud of smoke. My pout immediately turned into an irritated frown. Guess I’ll just have to deal with being bored for several more hours...

* * *

 

I didn’t make Sasori take me to anymore of his training sessions after that. Since Ichirou was like a chakra sensing bloodhound, my training wasn’t something I could do to occupy my time while waiting for Sasori to finish up his _own_ training. Meaning I’d have to soak in my own boredom the whole time, and that wasn’t something I wanted to waste my time doing, no matter _how_ much I enjoyed spending time with my brother.

A month passed with Chiyo working, Sasori training, and me soaking in as much knowledge as I could without appearing _too_ suspicious. I was so caught up in routine, that I nearly forgot about my birthday.

On May thirty-first, I found myself being awakened by the teasing hands of my brother. Sasori tickled me senseless, ignoring my breathless pleas for him to _stop_ and only tickling me _more_. He was even smiling at my torture, laughing along with me.

“Sasori-kun, I think he’s awake now.” Chiyo’s voice finally put an end to my terror, and I looked over to see her standing in the doorway of my room, an amused smirk on her face.

“Happy birthday, Kyo.” Sasori said to me with a smile, prompting me to shoot up and hug him as I laughed, full of childish glee.

“Thanks, nii-sama!” I squealed before pulling away and jumping off my bed. Chiyo was my next target and I latched onto her just as I had with Sasori, “Thank you, baa-chan!”

Chiyo laughed, the loud sound hurting my ears, but I remained by her side as she began to mess up my already mussed hair. “Don’t thank us yet! We haven’t even started celebrating!”

The next thing I knew, I was being led into the kitchen; Chiyo lightly pushing at my back while Sasori dragged me by the hand. “Look what we made,” said my brother, gesturing to the cake that was on the table.

My heart swelled in my chest at the sight of it. It was so simple: just a plain vanilla cake without any topping. I didn’t like frosting or anything too sweet in my past life, and that fact still applied to this one as well. I was lucky to have a family that didn’t _mind_ forgoing the sugary icing.

Turning _four_ didn’t really seem like much of an achievement — especially since it was my second time doing so — but for me it meant I was one step closer to being able to enter Suna’s Ninja Academy. I’m sure that was also something Chiyo and Sasori were looking forward to as well, wanting to see what I could accomplish and who I would become. I knew for sure that I was going to try my _best_ to make them proud.

We gathered around the table as Chiyo served us each a slice of cake. There was no need for any fanfare, such as _blowing out candles_ or singing the ‘Happy Birthday’ song. Honestly, we were more content without all of that, happy to just spend this significant day with each other. Sitting at the table, my eyes glanced at the two vacant seats, a heavy weight settling in my stomach. It had been quite awhile since the death of my parents, and I never really thought about them much. It was easier that way, but being here now, celebrating yet _another_ birthday without them… It just suddenly struck me how much I actually missed them and wished they were here. I may not have gotten to spend as much time with them as Sasori did but, the moments we had shared before they died were still _there_.

Sasori, who must have been watching me, seemed to notice my inner turmoil. He ran a comforting hand through my hair, a sad smile on his face. “Finish your cake, Kyo. Afterwards you can open your presents.”

That was a tactic obviously used on children to help sidetrack their thoughts or to also motivate them. Mentally, I was an adult, but yet...being in a child’s body and having to constantly _act_ my age didn’t help much. So, his words affected me, getting his desired results no doubt. The thoughts of our parents still lingered, but my mood brightened nevertheless.

Opening presents was also a peaceful affair. Chiyo stood at the table, in charge of handing me the gifts, while Sasori sat next to me, a small smile on his face that let me know he was just as happy about my birthday as I was. “We each got you something ourselves,” Chiyo said, a proud look on her face as she eyed Sasori. “Sasori-kun used the money he’s received from missions to help get your gift.”

Something like that had never even crossed my mind. I forgot that Sasori was taking missions and actually getting _paid_ for them, albeit not as much as a higher ranked shinobi but it was something. Looking to my brother with wide, awestruck eyes, I gasped. “ _Wha—_ You got me somethin’ with your _own_ money, Saso-nii?”

The redhead in question nodded, but bit his lip, “Something like that…” I eyed him suspiciously for a few seconds, but turned my attention away when Chiyo set a gift in front of me.

“This one’s from me!” She announced, stepping back with her hands on her hips, an expectant look on her face as she waited for me to open it. I needed no further invitation and ripped into the lazily wrapped box. Inside it were some more _books_ and other shiny trinkets to add to my hoard. The books Chiyo had gotten me focused around the topics of poisons, antidotes, and herbs.

“Thank you, baa-chan!” I exclaimed, sitting up in my seat to give the woman a hug. I was truly thankful for the items, especially for the books since I had nearly finished reading all of the other ones that we currently owned.

Next was Sasori’s gift, which was neatly wrapped in a long, rectangular box. I opened this one more carefully, mostly due to how _beautiful_ it looked. Lifting the lid of the box, my breath left me at the contents within it. A wooden puppet of a _dragon_ was placed on its side, surrounded by more paper to help cushion it. Suddenly, it moved, rising out of the box and moving fluidly through the air before hovering over my head, much like a halo would.

“I made it for you,” Sasori said, using chakra strings to move the dragon again, this time making it rest on top of the table. “I used my money to buy the supplies for it… I thought it suited you, as you like to hoard things— like those dragons do in stories.”

“It’s so cool!” I was already out of my seat and in Sasori’s lap, my arms wrapping around his neck as I squealed in excitement. His gift was such a _thoughtful_ and gorgeous thing, and I couldn’t wait to set it up in my room and have Sasori play with it for me. Watching it fly around was very soothing, not to mention my brother looked so at _peace_ when he was messing with it just moments before. “Thank you so much, Saso-nii!”

Sasori couldn’t help but laugh with me, one of his arms pulling me closer to him in a hug. Chiyo cackled at the sight, commenting about how we shouldn’t leave her out of such a cute family moment. The next thing we knew, she was wrapping her arms around the both of us, crushing us in a massive bear hug and laughing all the while. I continued to giggle and squeal however, holding onto my grandmother and brother all the more. This was probably...the best birthday I could ever remember having.

。。。

_Daniel blinked slowly, his eyes growing heavier by the minute. When it looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion, he would suddenly jerk awake again, remembering where exactly he was. The brunette forced himself to stare with wide eyes at the road in front of him, his hands tightening their hold on the steering wheel._

_Beside him, his mother sat in the passenger seat of the small pickup truck, dozing away with Max in her lap. They had luckily come across the truck while trekking down the abandoned highway. The keys to the truck were still in the ignition when they had found it, and the backseat had been full of useful supplies that Daniel and his family had so_ **_desperately_ ** _needed. It was so packed back there that Max had been forced to sit up front on the hard, uncomfortable hump that separated the two seats. That is, until he crawled onto their mother’s lap._

 _Though Daniel wished that he too, could lay back and get some rest, he knew that he couldn’t stop until he knew for_ **_certain_ ** _that they were safe. That may never be a permanent status, but temporary safety was better than none at all._

_It had been a week since they abandoned their home, leaving behind anything they couldn’t shove into bags for some other survivors to find. The beautiful neighborhood they had been apart of had been left in shambles, the dead being the only residents now. Daniel wasn’t sure what became of most of his neighbors, but he was positive that the majority of them ended up like his father._

_“Sarah— I mean_ **_Daniel_ ** _,” his mother’s voice had the brunette glancing over to the passenger’s seat. “Did you want me to drive for awhile? You should get some rest.” The woman kept her voice low, being mindful of the sleeping child in her arms._

 _Daniel licked his lip, blinking his dark green eyes for probably the tenth time in that moment. “No,” He mumbled with a shake of his head. “I’ll find a safe place for us and_ **_then_ ** _I’ll rest.” Daniel spoke with a finality in his voice, showing that he wouldn’t bother to listen to any form of persuasion. It was_ **_his_ ** _way or_ **_no_ ** _way. That was the thing about Daniel, he liked to do things a certain way and couldn’t handle letting anyone else take control._

_His mother was silent for a few more minutes, watching him closely before heaving a deep sigh. She nodded, “Fine...but if you get tired, just let me know.” Daniel merely grunted in reply, signalling the end of the conversation. Soon afterwards he was once again the only conscious person inside the truck, alone with only the sounds of the truck’s engine and Max’s soft snores to accompany him._

* * *

 

Chiyo had apparently been working at Sungakure’s Hospital for awhile. Though she was retired, her skills as a medic-nin could still be put to use. I had actually no _idea_ that Chiyo was a medic-nin, it was a fact that I had completely forgotten about from the series. That made me wonder...what else was I forgetting?

I probably should have written all my memories of _Naruto_ down when I first had the chance, but I had been confident that I wouldn’t need to. The idea was still there but, right now I have more important things to focus on: like the genin team that was currently watching over me. With Chiyo at the hospital and Sasori off with Ichirou, that left me alone with three, twelve year old brats. This team wasn’t as annoying as the others at least, but they still could be very...ugh.

Currently we were at the park, which was much better than being cooped up inside the house, at least. Though with this team, I’d much rather be inside than in public, getting secondhand embarrassment from them and their antics. You see, I was a well behaved child when I wanted to be, so watching me wasn’t much of a chore (something most of the genin teams had come to discover). That meant they were free to goof off without having to keep a constant eye on me if they didn’t want to.

While I played in the sand (just killing time at this point), the three genin stayed back in the shade. Two were sitting on a stone bench, while the other stood in front of them, her hands on her hips. _This doesn’t look good…_ I mused to myself, watching the team with narrowed eyes.

“Yo, check this out!” Namiko, the girl that was standing, suddenly exclaimed to her two teammates. Before they even had a chance to blink, the dark-skinned girl was bringing her fist down in between them, punching the stone bench. At first, I cringed at the loud sound the impact made, mourning the girl’s fist because that _had_ to have hurt— but _then_ the bench was crumbling, splitting in two and causing Namiko’s friends to fall to the ground with it.

 _Damn._ It could have really made for an impressive sight, that is if Namiko wasn’t holding her hand to her chest and biting back tears. She tried to casually rub at her sore wrist, laughing through the pain, “You see that? N-Nothing to it, haha...ha…”

_Oh my god._

The male member of the team, Touma, was quick to get back on his feet and approach Namiko. With a concerned expression on his face he began to examine his friend’s hand. It honestly didn’t look like he knew what he was doing, but his actions seemed to calm Namiko down either way. Her forest green eyes remained on him, no doubt nervous about the verdict. Meanwhile, the last member of the team, Sahori, was struggling to stand back up. Her whole body was trembling, the vibrations caused from Namiko’s punch hitting her a bit too hard, apparently. It was kind of funny to watch, seeing as her scrawny limbs looked like they were made out of jelly.

“Dumbasses…” I muttered to myself before returning to playing with the sand. My current project was a _mountain_ , and I was trying to see how big I could make it— though, I hadn’t gotten far with it before a pudgy child crashed into it, knocking it to hell. All I could do was sit and stare, watching as a little boy no older than one, laid down where my mountain used to be.

“Oops.” That was all he had to say for himself, which was a given considering his age, but _honestly_? What the hell, where did he even come from? What was the use of chakra sensing if I couldn’t even detect a one-year-old child before he showed up and trampled all over my hard work?

I continued to stare at the boy wordlessly, watching as he rolled over onto his stomach and began to move his arms and legs...much like someone would do when making a snow angel. His eyes were black, with hair the same color, styled in spiky tufts atop his head. “Yūra!” a voice suddenly yelled, followed by the sound of footsteps quickly approaching. A woman suddenly appeared, sharing the same coloring as the child. She quickly scooped the little boy up, brushing the sand off of him as she scolded him under her breath. “Yūra, what did I say about running off?!” _Yūra_ , as she called him, just shrugged before sticking practically his whole hand in his mouth. I frowned in disgust.

“E-Excuse me,” A quiet voice spoke up from behind me. Tilting my head back, I could see the freckled face of Touma approaching. His auburn hair was in slight disarray —probably from the bench incident earlier— making it look like his small ponytail was about to come undone. The boy paid it no mind however, keeping his hazel eyes on the woman in front of me. Namiko and Sahori were still in the shade, now talking to an older shinobi...trying to explain the destroyed bench, no doubt. “Do you need something…?”

Touma came to a stop directly behind me, before picking me up so that I was out of the woman’s reach. It was odd in my opinion, to be so suspicious of someone within the village, as protected and secure as it should be. Then again, a war was going on, so it could never hurt to be careful with strangers.

The woman furrowed her eyebrows at the two of us, finally giving us her full attention, “Pardon? Oh no, I was just picking up my son here… He has a tendency to run off when nobody's looking.” She sighed tiredly, “— _Oh_ , sorry about your...thing, by the way.” Her apologies were sent towards me, to which I nodded quietly in reply, not really sensing anything _sincere_ from it. The way she held herself… she had to be one of those _uppity_ civilians.

Touma’s hold tightened on me slightly, and he swallowed nervously before nodding his head. “O-Oh, okay… Have a good day then.”

The woman nodded and adjusted her hold on her son as she gave us a fake smile, “I’ll be sure to.” With that she left, taking her annoying son with her.

Touma instantly deflated once she was out of sight, obviously relieved to be through with that encounter. Sahori and Namiko regrouped with us, the former still holding onto her wrist. “Well,” Sahori began, rolling her black eyes, “We need to leave. Nami’s little _stunt_ got us banned from the park.”

Namiko was quick to defend herself with a huff, “We didn’t get _banned_ ! We just have to leave until we can pay back the cost of that bench, _tch_ . Besides— it’s totally worth it. I mean did you _see_ what I did back there?” The girl laughed, obviously proud of what she had done. Her sheer strength wasn’t all that shocking however, considering how _buff_ she looked. I wasn’t too sure if that was due to her being very passionate about being a kunoichi, or if it had something to do with a kekkei genkai. Either way, she could crush me with her pinky.

Sahori scoffed, flipping her dark pink hair to the side. There wasn’t much to flip however, considering she had it cut short with an undercut to match. “Please clarify. Was it the part where you _destroyed_ public property, or the part where you nearly broke your wrist?”

“No, it was the part where I turned your scrawny ass into a bowl of _jello._ ”

“O-Okay!” Touma was quick to interrupt, “ _Please_ don’t do this in front of the _child_.” His voice lowered when he said the last part, making me roll my eyes. That went unnoticed however, as the genin began to bicker again.

“He is only four,” Sahori retorted, scrunching up her nose. “I’m sure he doesn’t even understand what’s going on right now.”

Namiko laughed loudly at that, the sound making all of us scramble to cover our ears (Touma took one for the team, choosing to assist me in covering my ears instead of covering his). The black-haired girl calmed down enough to eye Sahori as if she was the most ignorant person on the planet, which was entirely possible. The buns on Namiko’s head shook a little with her movements, “Hori- _chan_ , there’s a reason Kyojin is so easy to babysit. It’s not because he’s too stupid to misbehave, it’s because he’s smart enough to _know_ not to.”

It was easy to tell that another argument was about to break out between the two girls, so Touma was quick to intervene again, looking extremely exasperated. “Nami, Hori, _please_ . L-Let’s just leave now. My arms are starting to hurt anyway…” As if to prove his point, he readjusted the grip he had on me, which made me _frown_. I didn’t weigh that much, my god.

Snorting, Namiko took me from Touma’s grasp, maneuvering me so that she could give me a piggyback ride. “Let’s go then, yo!” She yelled, already running off towards my house. It was always fun when Namiko got to carry me, because when she ran she’d use her chakra to enhance her speed, making for a _wild_ ride. I laughed giddily with her, sensing the other two genin right behind us, though at a less rushed pace. “Those losers can eat our dust, right Kyo-chan?”

“Yeah!” I replied, practically yelling into her ear. She whined at that, which only made me laugh harder. This whole experience would certainly make for an exciting story at dinner tonight.

* * *

**story rec:** “so not happening” written by _angelbloodlove_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me say now that yūra is a canon character. just look him up to learn more about him. as for ichirou, namiko, touma, and sahori— they’re all my ocs and probably won’t show up too much other than when i need them to.
> 
> this chapter was beta’d, once again, by the amazing [fortheloveofb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofb/pseuds/fortheloveofb)! i send all my love her way!


	4. so darkness i became

Several months before Sasori was due to turn eight, his team finally became complete. Graduating from the Academy, along with a handful of other students, were the Ko twins. Maho and Mie joined Team Ichirou, much to Sasori’s displeasure it seemed. According to my brother, both of the twins were twelve-year-old girls who had nothing better to do than gush over him and act like his “ _ nee-chans _ ” as they girlishly squealed.

Sasori probably could have tolerated them if they were more ambitious or career-focused. Instead, they were very  _ vain _ and more interested in meeting “attractive shinobi” than actually training to become stronger kunoichi. Going by his ( _ many _ ) complaints about them, Maho and Mie sounded very similar to Sakura and Ino before they matured.

“I hope they die during our next mission.”

I would have laughed at his disdain if Chiyo hadn’t been there, fuming at my brother’s blunt words. She was quick to scold and lecture him, going on about “teamwork” and how we were all “comrades in arms, here to serve our village and protect the people within”. Sasori remained quiet through it, looking like he was trying his best not to roll his eyes.

As eccentric and carefree as Chiyo could be, she would always remain loyal to her village. Sasori and I shared indifference to the place, having the similar thought that we’d serve the village as long as we were a resident of it. Our grandmother didn’t know that, and if she did then we would be nagged until we had a change of heart.

Months passed with Sasori getting used to his insufferable team and going on multiple missions (mostly C-ranks). While he was off doing that, Chiyo began to tutor me on the shinobi lifestyle. At first she just spoke to me about it, but after awhile she began to help me work with blunt weapons. First kunai, and then shuriken. I even got to work with senbon and ninja wire too.

Chiyo worked with me until I could get five bullseyes in a row, only to have me switch to a different tool directly afterward. The training was fun, but tiring all the same. It made me wonder if this was the exact same stuff that Sasori had to go through when she was helping him train as well.

I wish I could say that I picked up everything quickly, but it took me a bit before I could confidently say I was  _ decent  _ at one thing or another. There were certain skill sets I found myself excelling in, while others I was doing...okay with. Poisons and  _ trap-making  _ were definitely something I took an interest in, so it wasn’t hard to motivate myself to  _ learn and learn and learn _ . Things like  _ learning  _ about the three basic techniques (ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu) I didn’t really care for… Actively practicing something was  _ way  _ different than studying or reading about it, and unfortunately for me, Chiyo would rather me read about it before she actually trained me in it (even then I would probably be learning a bunch of E-rank stuff).

I wasn’t the only one training my ass off however —  the Chūnin Exams were quickly approaching, and Sasori and his team were due to participate. My brother was looking forward to it, ready to advance his ranking as soon as possible. His current concern was his teammates; Sasori was afraid that they’d drag him down. Otherwise he was pretty confident that he’d pass the Exams without too much trouble. I had faith that he would too.

* * *

 

Everyone knew that Kakashi Hatake and Itachi Uchiha were prodigies. Fans of the series (and especially of said two characters) always spoke highly of them because of it, boasting on and on as if they were their  _ children _ . They had forgotten about another prodigy that existed in the Narutoverse, however: my  _ brother _ . Sasori graduated from the Academy at age  _ seven _ , only to become a chūnin a year later at age  _ eight _ . It was impressive when I had only thought of him as a character in a manga, and it’s  _ still  _ impressive now when I see him as so much more than that.

This Chūnin Exams wasn’t nearly as long as the one I had seen Konoha hold in the series, and was exclusive only to Suna ninja. For that reason, there was only one phase of the Exams: one-on-one battles, until only one person was left. From there, the Kazekage and Suna’s Council would pick those whom they thought deserved a promotion (based on skill and wit). Sasori happened to be one of those people, and needless to say, his teammates were not. From what little I had seen of Maho and Mie, they were definitely the type to get  _ creamed  _ rather than actually win a fight. Sasori was satisfied with their failure, and surprisingly, the twins didn’t resent him for his rather arrogant attitude. If anything they said it made him even  _ cuter _ .

I was excited for Sasori and his promotion (and oh so very proud), but then I remembered that he’ll probably be sent out to help aid in the war now. I knew he was capable, but...he’s only eight and  — no matter how much of a genius he is, or how strong his skill set may be —  Sasori is still a human. It only takes one mistake to get killed in the field. Luckily, it seemed he wouldn’t be getting sent out to the front lines anytime soon, considering he was still aiding his team with D-rank missions and the like.

Currently, the three members of Team Ichirou were at our house and in the middle of a mission. The center of their objective? The same  _ brat  _ that messed up my mountain of sand: Yūra. His parents were away from the village at the moment (for reasons unknown to me, especially during these times of war), leaving him in the hands of Team Ichirou for a couple days. Tonight he’d be at our house, and then the next at Maho and Mie’s. From there he’d keep switching over until his parents finally returned.

Yūra sat in Sasori’s lap while Maho and Mie were making our living room “baby-proof”. Yūra kept gurgling and smiling up at Sasori, to which my brother would give a small smile back before gently allowing the baby to grab a hold of his fingers. My face twisted up into a scowl as I watched them from the other side of the room, clicking my tongue before I returned to my studies.

Honestly, I was inwardly scolding myself for getting  _ jealous  _ of an infant. I was mentally a  _ grown-ass  _ man and besides, Sasori was  _ my  _ brother, not Yūra’s. That stupid baby was only here temporarily...but still… Seeing Sasori be so  _ affectionate  _ (despite the fact he was probably only doing it to keep Yūra from crying) with someone other than me made me  _ irritated _ . I was supposed to be special; Sasori’s “only exception” if you will.

“Sasori-kun, we’re finished so you can put Yūra-chan down now!” Mie announced.

Grunting in reply, Sasori lifted Yūra off of his lap and placed him on the floor in front of some of the toys the team had brought over for him. From there the three genin left to go and prepare snacks (for both the baby and everyone else), leaving me alone with the kid. I watched him with narrowed eyes as he toddled towards me, his hands outstretched to the book in my hands. I scoffed, holding it away from him. “ _ No _ , this is mine.”

Yūra didn’t take that too well, huffing as he once again renewed his efforts to try and steal my book. “ _ Gimme. _ ” He mumbled out,  _ stepping  _ on my legs to try and get closer to his target. I hissed at his weight, the pressure not doing anything  _ good  _ for my small body. Out of reflex, I pushed Yūra away from me, making him fall down and onto the floor with a  _ thump _ .

Silence.

Then he started to bawl. My eyes widened in slight panic, reaching out towards him to try and  _ shut him up  _ because I didn’t feel like getting scolded by one of those annoying twins. Only, Maho arrived before I could even attempt to comfort the crying child. She walked into the room  _ just  _ in time to see me with my hand outstretched towards Yūra while he sat on the floor, rubbing his eyes as he cried and cried and  _ cried.  _ Yeah, this probably didn’t look good.

Maho gasped, looking very scandalized at the scene in front of her. Mie and Sasori walked in behind her, still in the dark at what exactly was going on. The girl ignored them, choosing to quickly march over to where Yūra and I were so that she could pull the child away from me. She gave me a scalding look, “ _ Kyojin,  _ how dare you bully him! He’s just a  _ baby _ !”

I made to protest, standing up quickly as I opened my mouth to speak but— My whole body was forced to the floor, a stinging sensation beginning to take root on the left side of my face. I couldn’t even bring myself to react. I could only lay on the floor, holding my cheek in shock.  _ Maho just smacked me _ . With a stuttering breath, my eyes watered against my will as I finally glanced up and met Sasori’s  _ surprised  _ gaze. “S-Saso-nii…”

Sasori reacted fast, flying across the room towards Maho. The girl didn’t even have the time to  _ gasp  _ before she was being pinned against the wall, a kunai to her throat. My brother looked absolutely  _ menacing _ , his expression dark and solely focused on the girl in front of him. Maho looked like she was going to piss herself, her whole body stock-still in terror because  _ Sasori was releasing killing intent— he was prepared to  _ **_kill_ ** _. _

“ **How** **_dare_ ** **you.** ”

With that, Sasori released Maho from his hold, leaving the girl to fall to the floor on quivering legs. Mie was suddenly by her sister’s side, a fearful look on her face as she tried to tend to Maho, but at the same time keep her sights on Sasori. It took some fumbling, but soon Mie had gotten Maho to her feet and they were  _ gone _ . I had a feeling that would be the last I’d see of them for awhile, if not ever.

I could distantly still hear Yūra crying, but the only person I could truly focus on right now was Sasori. He was beside me now, pulling me onto his lap so that he could hold me close to his chest. The sound of his heartbeat calmed me somewhat. One of his hands ran through my hair, while another gingerly inspected the damage done to my face. It didn’t sting much anymore, unless someone applied pressure to it anyway.

“There will probably be slight bruising,” Sasori muttered quietly before sighing, “I’m sorry that happened Kyojin. I wasn’t fast enough to protect you…” His arms tightened around me for a second as he buried his face into my hair.

I clutched onto his shirt, burying my own face into his chest. “Not your fault…” I replied quietly. That girl had only smacked me, but the force behind it was enough to shock me.

“Let’s put some ice on your cheek. Obaa-chan can heal it when she gets home.” Sasori said after a while, standing up with me still in his arms. He really was strong…

I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder, my eyes landing on Yūra, who had yet to calm down. The fact that Sasori had previously released some killing intent probably had something to do with that. “What about him?” I questioned, pointing to the child.

Sasori merely glanced at Yūra before kicking a toy in his direction, hoping to redirect his attention to that instead. “You’re more important,” Was all he said before heading towards the kitchen, not bothering to stick around to see if Yūra would stop crying or not.

。。。

Maho and Mie Ko were transferred from Team Ichirou to two separate genin teams a week after the babysitting mission. There weren’t any available teams that needed two new members, so the girls were forced to separate. Sasori was pleased when he heard the news, but less so when Ichirou found out what  _ happened  _ between Maho and him. Sasori had been beaten into the ground with training and lecture after  _ lecture  _ about “loyalty to Sunagakure and our teams” and “never turn on your  _ comrades _ ”. Ichirou made sure Sasori came home dead tired for several weeks, but once Chiyo found out, she turned those weeks into  _ months _ . Of course she was just as pissed as Sasori was when she heard that Maho had hit me when she had no place to, and of  _ course  _ she was proud that Sasori didn’t hesitate to protect me. However, the fact remained that Maho Ko was a kunoichi of Sunagakure and, like Ichirou had drilled into my brother’s skull, we don’t attack our comrades with the intent to  _ kill _ .

* * *

 

A month after I turned five in this world, a memory hit me. I had been in the middle of a conversation with Sasori when it resurfaced, making my words catch in my throat. Sasori was speaking to me, but I could only blankly stare forward, my gaze seeing through him as my mind focused on the images that flashed in front of me.

A man with a kind and caring heart saved his comrades at the cost of a vital mission. Instead of being appreciated for saving the lives of others, he was instead hated and shunned.  The man, who was a father and a friend, did the best he could and received nothing but cruelty and malice in return. He was a man who could no longer carry a burden that was too strong for him to hold from the very beginning,  because he lost those that held him up. They had abandoned him, leaving him to be crushed under the weight of those who once loved him.

A boy with a bright and innocent mind worked very hard to impress his father. He found happiness and light in the smile that the man gave him. A boy with soft features and a pure heart was easily sullied by the views and beliefs of others. His views of the man he once respected and looked up to changed, because he made a small mistake; a mistake that saved others but killed him.

This boy was Kakashi Hatake, coming home to find Sakumo Hatake’s cooling corpse, lying in a pool of his own blood. This was not a memory, but the alarming present, taking place in a village far from my own. It was real, and it was a tragedy.

“Kyo?  _ Kyo _ !”

My body was jerked forward repeatedly until I finally returned to where I once was, sitting in the living room as I talked to my brother. Sasori’s hands were on my face, his face full of distress and worry. I blinked up at him in confusion.

“Are you okay?” My brother asked, “You’re crying.”

It was then that I finally noticed it; the feeling of tears rolling down my cheeks. I brought a hand up to my face to wipe the tears away, but Sasori beat me to it. 

“I’m okay,” I finally replied, making Sasori release a concerned sigh.

“Of course you are.”

。。。

For some time after that, I became distant. It was more like I spaced out more often than I usually did, my thoughts on how things were going for the characters I had read about all those years ago. I forgot, that while I lived on in Sunagakure, life also went on everywhere else in the world. Events took place in the series that I couldn’t directly affect or  _ change _ . I was too far  _ away, _ and way too young to be able to so much as enable a “butterfly effect”. The truth frustrated me to no end, but then I would remember that I was getting there. I was training hard and working for the future. I could not change everything, but I would change what I could.

Chiyo and Sasori noticed my strange behavior, which wasn’t very surprising. What  _ did  _ surprise me, was the approach to handling this...conflict (I guess it could be called). Instead of grouping together to  _ talk  _ it out, I was taken aside by Sasori and told that we were going to go out and  _ play _ .

“Where are we going?”

Sasori guided me by the hand as we walked near the outskirts of Sunagakure. I had never been this far away from the house before, so this part of Suna was very new to me. I couldn’t keep my gaze off of the large canyon wall that we walked next to, my hand reaching up to touch it every now and then. Normally I could only see the wall from a distance, so it was interesting to be able to get so close to it.

“Before those twins joined my team,” Sasori began, “I found an oasis while I was completing a D-rank.” He turned his head so that he could smile at me from over his shoulder, “I want to share it with you.”

“ _ Oh~ _ ” I replied with wide eyes, beginning to feel a little giddy. An oasis meant  _ water _ , which meant  _ swimming _ . It had been so long since I had last been able to relax and unwind in such away. The last time I had been able to swim was...in my past life before the outbreak.

Sasori slowed in his steps as we neared a small opening in the canyon wall. It was big enough for us to fit through if we turned sideways. I fit through it much easier than Sasori did, and that served as a reminder that one day we’d be too big to visit this place. 

After slipping through the opening, I looked on in awe at the beautiful sight that greeted me. The oasis was surround by the canyon wall as well, but was much smaller than Sunagakure was. It was probably the size of my house in total, with gorgeous trees outlining it while a lake took up the center, filled with sparkling  _ blue  _ water. “Whoa…” I said in disbelief, spinning myself around so that I could look at everything. Turning to my brother with a grin, I exclaimed, “It’s beautiful, Saso-nii!”

My brother smiled back at me, removing his cloak and sandals before approaching the lake’s shore. I followed close behind him, slipping my own shoes off my feet along the way. Upon reaching the water, I was quick to dip my feet in, one of my hands latching onto Sasori’s shirt so I wouldn’t lose my balance and fall in. “You’ve never been to a lake before— have you, Kyojin?”

I shook my head absently, continuing to move my feet around in the water. A part of me wanted to venture out further, but honestly it probably wouldn’t be worth getting my clothes wet. “Have you ever been swimming before, Saso-nii?”

Sasori shrugged, “Once or twice…” His voice got softer, “With okaa-chan and otou-chan.”

I stiffened at that, not really knowing how to respond. After a few seconds, I grunted before continuing to stare out at the lake, admiring the glimmering water. I could faintly see fish swimming around and one of them nearly brushed against my feet. “Ano! Nii-sama there are fish!”

My brother rolled his eyes, but amusement was clear on his face. He wiggled his toes when a fish got too close, immediately scaring it away. I, on the other hand, was leaning forward in preparation to strike at any of the incoming fish. With narrowed eyes I readied myself, thrusting my hand in the water when a fish got close enough. “ _ Yah _ !” There was a resounding splash as my hand met the water, missing the fish entirely. While I didn’t catch the fish…I definitely managed to get both Sasori and I wet.

Looking up at the redhead through wet bangs, I laughed nervously at the unimpressed look on his face. “Oops…”

“ _ Mhm _ …” He replied, brushing his damp hair away from his face. “I was going to teach you how to swim, but maybe I should teach you how to fish instead?” Before I could question him, Sasori continued. “We were taught how to fish during the Academy for survival training. There were some other things, but I can teach you them another day.”

“Cool! Are we gonna catch the fish with our hands?”

Sasori chuckled, ruffling my hair, “You’ll see.”

* * *

**story rec:** “metanoia” written by  _ amai-chan1993 _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in which sasori teaches kyo how to catch fish with just some kunai and ninja wire. haa, this chapter was shorter than the other ones but it still hit my ideal length of 3000+ so there’s that. also, this was more of bonding-filler type chapter than anything else, but we also got to do some time skips. we’re slowly working our way through the years, so by next chapter sasori should be nine.
> 
> special thanks to [fortheloveofb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofb/pseuds/fortheloveofb) for being amazing and editing this chapter!


	5. holding your fate

In my previous life, I had studied in the medical branch during my time at university. Though my time there had been cut short due to a freak disaster, the information I had learned evolved later on when I met up with a group of scientists and other medical practitioners. We learned from each other and worked together on what was to be a cure to the disease that had taken too many lives; both innocent and corrupted.

I’d say we got far, but the most we really accomplished was stalling the disease; with a dose of the serum we concocted, you’d get to live forty-eight hours longer than the usual “less than twenty-four hours” bullshit everyone else was stuck with. That was the last thing I remember us doing before I killed myself; which was stupid now that I’ve had all these years to think about it. I shouldn’t have given up so easily back then. I could have pushed myself harder to get back to the base, take the serum, and then use the remaining time I had left to help as much as I could. Even after that I could have allowed the others to use me as a test subject.

None of that mattered now though, so thinking about it would only serve to frustrate me. All I could do was look forward and _promise_ myself that I wouldn’t give up this time around. No more being fucking _weak_ . I was going to make myself stronger than I was before; not just physically, but mentally. Of course, my past life had already hardened a part of me, but in the end I had _still_ submitted too easily when the end was in sight.

I was getting closer to my goal of “strength” with each passing day. It had been awhile since my slight mental breakdown (after I had seen that _image_ of Kakashi and Sakumo) and Sasori was nine now. I was still only five, but not slacking in the least when it came to my training. Physical training was going smoothly, but what I was more focused on was studying the many venomous and poisonous plants, animals, and even _rocks_ that existed in this world. Some were similar to the ones in my past, while others were completely new to me.

With all of this knowledge, I inched closer and closer to becoming adept in the use of them. I’d learn how to extract them, create them, and intermingle them with other objects (such as weapons, food, and clothing). Not only that, but I wasn’t stupid enough to forget about researching the matching _antidotes_.

Chiyo was quick to notice my interest and, considering her prior knowledge of poisons, was proud to assist me with my newfound skillset. Sasori would give a helping hand every now and then when he was available, but Chiyo knew more than him at the moment, so it made more sense for her to teach me rather than my brother.

This all led to how I was practically becoming a master of poisons at only age five. Of course, to everyone else I seemed to be a genius prodigy, while the truth was that I simply had past knowledge on my side. With some more research and practice, I would become full fledged master by the time I was seven at the _least_ . That’s what Chiyo had cackled to me anyway, but I took the words as a challenge and decided I’d try to become one by age _six_. Telling that to my grandmother only made her laugh harder. She had high hopes for me.

Though poisons were my main focus, it wasn’t the only thing I was working on. Chiyo had finally allowed me to work on my trap-making after I proved to be efficient in poisons. For now I was only working on basic Academy-level traps, but soon I’d move on to a whole different level of them. First I’d have to master the simple stuff… and then I’d have to learn fūinjutsu; no pressure. In the beginning, I knew that Chiyo would only expect me to learn basic and relatively easy seals, but eventually I’d have to learn more advanced ones if I wanted my traps to become stronger.

Fūinjutsu wasn’t something I was interested in, but if it meant that another one of my skills would become more powerful— then I’d be willing to learn. No matter how much I was dreading the fact… my calligraphy was shitty at best, not quite having gotten the hang of this style of writing just yet. The memory of using pens and pencils was still oddly fresh in my mind. Amazing how something so mundane could remain when I would occasionally forget what my little brother even looked like.

Back to the subject at hand, trap-making was a priority of mine, but unfortunately the supplies for it went _quickly_ when you practiced every day. This led to where I was now: perched on Sasori’s shoulders as we walked through the market.

“What do we need again?” I mumbled, resting against Sasori’s head. The supplies for me, but without a list I couldn’t remember the specifics of what we needed to get. Sure, I could tell you which rock could create a lethal gas if you heated it as well as transfer poison onto your fingertips if you _touched_ it, but god forbid I remember if we needed to buy ninja wire or not. _Priorities_.

Sasori neared a corner and opened his mouth to reply, only to stop short when someone rounded the said corner before us at a ridiculous speed, running straight into us. Of course, my brother had sensed the stranger moments before the impact and had moved to the side in an attempt to avoid this collision. Only, the boy seemed to have tried to do the same, moving to the right when Sasori moved to the left… In short, their attempts to save an accident from occuring had failed terribly, resulting in me flipping forward and off of Sasori’s shoulders.

Everything had happened so quickly; I almost didn’t realize I was falling. The boy who had rounded the corner let out a shout when he noticed my predicament and did his best to try and catch me. Sasori beat him to the punch however, grasping me with his chakra strings while I was in midair. There was a silent pause before I was placed safely onto the ground.

“Are you okay, Kyojin?” Sasori asked me, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. I nodded before needlessly dusting myself off and looking to the other male that was there.

The boy that had run into us looked to be around Sasori’s age, if not maybe a bit older. He had chin-length brown hair with long bangs that were kept parted in the middle. His eyes were green and seemed to be abnormally large; then again, I wasn’t too sure if that was due to the awestruck look on his face or if they were just naturally that big.

Honestly, it looked like he was caught between _apologizing_ and commenting on the stunt Sasori had just pulled with his chakra strings. It was only after Sasori turned his attention to the boy, a cold glare on his face, that he snapped out of it. With genuine shame on his face, the boy bowed his head, “S-Sorry about that! I managed to see you when I turned the corner but when I moved to dodge you… you did the same.”

Sasori’s eyes narrowed, “Are you saying that it was _my_ fault?”

“N-No! Of course not! I was just explaining what happened, I— I don’t have time for this!” The boy suddenly stood straight, a serious look on his face. “I have an urgent message to deliver!” At that, he pulled out a scroll and presented it to us.

Sasori and I shared a blank look. The scroll looked to be just that; a _scroll_ . There were no coded markings on it that labeled it’s importance. Not to mention that nothing about this kid screamed _shinobi_. The so called “urgent” message was most likely civilian related. Hah, perhaps it was a letter to one of his parents, letting the other know that they were going to be home late tonight or something of that nature.

Either way, the kid’s seriousness seemed ludicrous enough for Sasori to grace him with a reply. “Oh really now? For whom is it for?”

The brunette froze for a minute, either surprised Sasori had taken an interest in his task or because he had forgotten just who he was supposed to be meeting up with. “Uh… Oh yeah! It’s from a _Chiyo-baa-san_ to a _Sasori-kun_. I was heading to the address she gave me when I ran into you.”

I shared a look with my brother once again, but our blank expressions were now replaced with ones of confusion instead.

“Obaa-chan gave you a message for nii-sama?” I asked, cocking my head to the side absently.

Sasori held his hand out, “I’m the _Sasori-kun_ you were referring to.”

“ _Eh_ — You are?!” The redhead nodded once again, to which the brown-haired boy studied him carefully for several moments. His scrutinizing expression disappeared quickly however, a grin replacing it as he handed over the scroll. “Oh, okay then. Here you go~! My name is Komushi by the way.”

That name… seemed very familiar.

。。。

As it turned out, Chiyo’s little “message” was only a ruse to get Sasori and Komushi to meet. The little scheme had been proposed by Komushi’s mother, who worked at the hospital with Chiyo. The woman had been worried about her son’s lack of friends, so the moment she learned that Chiyo had a grandson around Komushi’s age, she jumped at the chance to introduce him to somebody.

Apparently, despite his bubbly and friendly personality, not many of the students at the Academy took well to his _loud_ demeanor. Chiyo went along with the plan for some reason or another...

Either way the message Sasori had been given told him to keep Komushi _occupied_ until his mother was off duty. Which was why my brother and I were now back home, but with an extra guest. I had no problems with this situation, finding Komushi to be… a little overbearing at times, but nevertheless likeable. He kind of reminded me of Naruto in some ways, but not all.

Another one of the reasons I didn’t mind Komushi being here was because _I_ wasn’t the one in charge of him; that was Sasori. Currently the two were discussing puppetry, as the brunette couldn’t stop asking my brother about the cool _trick_ he did back when he prevented me from falling onto the ground. At first, Sasori was very stubborn and resistant when it came to teaching someone else about his techniques. Eventually however, Komushi’s eagerness and determination won out.

Having a friend that _wasn’t_ me would be good for Sasori, so I tried not to get in their way too much (which was easy since I had no interest in their current topic). A part of me felt a little irritated though, not liking how someone else was taking up Sasori’s attention for once. It was very childish of me to think that way —and probably a little possessive too— and I knew that, but it couldn’t stop how I felt. Sasori didn’t even look interested in the least while he was with Komushi, a blank expression on his face the entire time they talked, and yet I couldn’t get rid of the pang in my chest whenever I saw them interacting.

I really needed to get some friends of my own, or distance myself from Sasori at _least_. I was starting to see why exactly Chiyo agreed to this little set-up. It was for both my sake and my brother’s. We were far too attached to each other, and while that could be great, it was preventing us from branching out and meeting new people.

The thought of putting even a _small_ gap between Sasori and I left a sour taste in my mouth, but I knew it would have to be done at some point. That point just happened to come _now_ in the form of a doe-eyed ten-year-old named Komushi.

* * *

 

A month after turning six, Chiyo enrolled me into Sunagakure’s Academy, which was due to start during the last month of summer. The old woman was quick to take me shopping, much like she had done for Sasori after he had graduated.

I stocked up on new clothes, weapons, and studying material. Though we didn’t buy much overall, we spent several hours at the market since Chiyo was _very_ picky with making sure I got the right quality and quantity of items. We were nearly ripped off a few times, to which Chiyo caught quickly and chewed the shopkeeper's head off. Needless to say we went home with a few freebies as well.

Unfortunately, Sasori was out of the village on a mission during our shopping trip, so he missed out on it. I’m sure _he_ wouldn’t count it as a loss though, seeing how Chiyo was when out in public. I was used to it, and by now Sasori probably was too, but— Our parents were probably the ones that used to take him shopping before, and so he had that memory to compare our trips with Chiyo to. I would imagine an outing with our father and mother would be _much_ more pleasing than one with Chiyo.

I wouldn’t complain too much though, because I loved Chiyo, and was grateful that she stuck around to raise Sasori and I (despite how much of a handful we could be at times).

My first day at the Academy started with a vision. My eyes bore blankly into the wall across from me, and my hand stopped mid-way from putting rice in my mouth. Chiyo was washing her dishes in the sink, having consumed her food before me. Sasori was nowhere in sight— still off on a mission to which he’d return from later in the day…

I focused on the events happening in my mind’s eye, unsure if they were from the future or the present.

There was a boy, a year younger than me, and two other children that are at least _three_ years older. More children covered the room I was spectating, but they were grayed out in comparison to these three. The other children did not matter, nor did I care to take note of their faces. Instead I remained focused on the trio that seemed to have a spotlight on them.

The child that is  younger than me is quick to put a name to: Kakashi Hatake. I recognized him from the first and only vision I had before this one decided to grace me with its existence. He looked only slightly older now, seeing as it had only been a year since the events involving his father’s passing, but there were a few changes to him nevertheless. His air screamed _cold_ and serious, akin to the one I found my brother having when he was around anyone other than his family and sensei.

The other two kids were harder to identify, both thanks to my fuzzy memory and the fact that they weren’t exactly the focal point of this vision. They were blurred at the edges, albeit still in the image.

It took a few more minutes before I finally discovered who they were, watching as they introduced themselves, along with the other students in their class... _Ah_ , so the setting was a classroom. Kakashi stood before the students with the teacher at his side. He was being introduced as a new student— having been bumped up to a more advanced class once his genius was discovered.

Obito Uchiha sat in the back beside one Rin Nohara. His trademark goggles were on his forehead, sparking the memory I had of him instantly, just as his name left his lips. The brunette beside him had to actually say her name for me to comprehend exactly _who_ she was. Even then, it took me a few more seconds before I could successfully remember her... Though the purple markings on her face should have been enough to trigger _something_.

The scene continued to play out before me, coming to a close as Kakashi took a seat in the front row.

I blinked back to reality and continued to eat shakily. The rice that had been held in my chopsticks was now cold, making me frown a bit in distaste. Chiyo was watching me, no doubt wondering what the hell had just _happened_. She said nothing though, probably recognizing my dull stare as the one Sasori had described to her a year ago before I had withdrawn into myself.

I wasn’t crying like I had last time, something I was thankful for. It was good to know that I wouldn’t be cursed to only witness horrible events; I would get to be present for the good ones as well, or at least the seemingly _neutral_ ones.

“Hurry up or you’re gonna be late!” Chiyo suddenly shouted, nearly making me jump out of my seat. At her insistence, I was quick to shovel down the rest of my breakfast so that we could depart for the Academy.

My grandmother saw me off without much fanfare, giving me a proud smile and an encouraging pat on the head.

。。。

My first day at the Academy was, if I had to describe it with one word, terrible.

It was incredibly boring, and though I had expected that, it was still hard to have to sit through the lessons and act like I was actually paying _attention_. Oh wait, I hadn’t even bothered to do even that. The moment our instructor began to explain Sunagakure’s history (something I had studied ages ago) I fell asleep in my seat. Luckily, I was sitting in the back so not much attention was sent my way; I’m sure my average coloring also helped a bit.

Point was, I basically slept through all of my classes due to how irritatingly basic and _easy_ they were. Nothing of note happened other than that small fact. I didn’t even meet anyone, not that I was _looking_ to. I kept to myself the whole time during class _and_ lunch, satisfied with the peace I was given.

I repeated all of this to Sasori, who was the one to pick me up after my classes ended for the day. His presence was a nice surprise, since I hadn’t expected him to return home until much later.

“—and then he told us to review the material, which I’m _not_ going to do.” I huffed, rolling my eyes at the degrading memory. Sasori and I were walking home hand-in-hand as I told the tale that was my first day at the Academy. Whenever I got too aggravated, I found that my brother would squeeze my hand slightly, a gesture used to comfort me no doubt. “I already know everything! Things were more fun when you were teaching me stuff, Saso-nii...” I sighed helplessly at that.

My hand was squeezed once again as Sasori smiled at me, “How about I teach you a few more things…? After you finish your homework that is.”

I groaned, “Saso- _nii_!”

“I’m sure you’ll finish it in no time, since you already know everything I mean.” Sasori chuckled lightly, smirking down at me. This was obviously a challenge; a _test_ that he was throwing my way. Something to keep me motivated.

“I will! I promise not to keep you waiting, nii-sama.”

“Good,” he ran a hand through my hair, “You know I hate that.”

* * *

 

After a couple of months at the Academy, I got used to the boring routine that was forced upon me. Besides sleeping to help me pass the time, I began to practice on my chakra control. Of course, this was something I had been doing for years already but, in my opinion, too much practice doesn’t exist. So, while our instructor would drone on about a topic I was already well versed in, I’d be discreetly sticking small pebbles onto my hand beneath the desk.

When I wasn’t doing that, I was writing in a journal that I had found amongst my hoard; sketching out trap blueprints, and notes revolving around poisons. Occasionally you’d find a random scrawl in English, which would either translate to something about the original plotline of _Naruto_ … or me just talking shit about someone in my class. More mundane things were written down too, such as a shopping list of things Chiyo asked for me to pick up or items that my instructor told us to bring for the next lesson.

Basically, my journal wasn’t used for just one thing and had multiple purposes. I tried to keep it on my person at all times so I wasn’t too worried about someone snatching it and taking a peek. Then again, it’d suck if someone _did_ get a hold of it and take my ideas and credit them as their own, so I was sure to put a locking seal on it. Not just that though; if someone were to force their way into my journal (by breaking my seal or channeling _their_ chakra into it) it’d just explode in their faces, courtesy of the _exploding_ seal I placed on the inside. Sure, I’d be without my precious journal, but the karma that the culprit would get would make it all worth it. It would also mean that the seals I had spent hours perfecting actually _worked_.

Lunch time began just as I was finishing up on another sketch. Closing my journal and putting it away, I was ready to go find a quiet spot to eat when I noticed someone was standing beside my desk. Looking up with furrowed eyebrows, I met the gaze of a pale-skinned boy. He was smiling ( _deviously_ it almost seemed), his bright orange eyes narrowing at the action.

Even when I met his gaze with a questioning look, the boy remained quiet, apparently content with just staring into my _soul_ . After a few more beats of silence, I gritted my teeth irritably and huffed, “ _...Yes?_ ”

“Heh, so you noticed me?” He was leaning against my desk now, an amused expression on his face as he ran a hand through his short, curly locks. My eyes followed the action, examining the unique coloring —a pastel rose— for a moment before dismissing it completely.

When my classmate said nothing more, I rolled my eyes and slid out from behind my desk. The kid was still partly in my way, but I had no qualms with pushing him a bit so I could get past. If he wanted to be a creep and annoy the hell out of me for no reason, then fine, but I wasn’t going to just stick around when I could be eating my lunch instead.

“He~y, where are you going?” The rose-haired boy followed after me with a playful pout, “I didn’t even get to introduce myself~!”

His voice was grating on my nerves… It wasn’t that it sounded _bad_ , it was just that he spoke with an annoying _lilt_ . Where had he even come from? Was he always in my class? I feel like I would have recognized him with that kind of hair color. I chose to ignore him as I made my way to the rooftop, but my silence apparently didn’t bother him because he followed me all the way there. He even had the gall to sit down beside me— pulling out a lunch of his _own_.

“My name is Murai Niijima,” I finally got a name to put to his face half-way through my meal. Murai was a fast eater apparently, because his bento was picked clean before fifteen minutes had even gone by.

“...Kyojin.” I replied, deciding not to be a _complete_ asshole.

“Just _Kyojin_ , hm~? I’m guessing both your parents were no-name orphans.”

Murai certainly had no tact. Did he even realize how offensive that was? If I was anyone else (read: Sasori) then he’d get a beating for sure. I shrugged, “Does that mean you’re a clan kid then? It’s been awhile since I’ve met someone so obnoxious.”

My classmate winked, “That’s right~! I’m surprised you didn’t realize that right away, I mean, the Niijimas are pretty well known in Sunagakure.” He sounded pretty knowledgeable for a six-year-old, but considering he was a clan kid, I wasn’t too surprised.

“How so?”

“It’s our kekkai genkai, of course~! We’re all born with a low chakra presence, which makes us harder to detect than normal people. Those who are really talented and perfectly trained can even make themselves appear invisible; that’s what I was trying to do earlier…” He frowned, “Hmph, but you noticed me anyway~! It worked perfectly on all the other kids, so you see—” Murai grinned at me, “I’m a little pissed off right now.”

‘ _Someone… please… come get this child._ ’

“I’m declaring you my rival, Kyo~chan!”

“...Go away.”

“ _Eh~?_ ” With a disgusted look on my face, I packed up my bento and fled from the roof. I didn’t need this; I didn’t have time for it. If he wanted to be my friend, then maybe I could put up with that. _RIval_ , however?

‘ _No. I’m too busy focusing on my own training and the_ **_future_ ** _to worry about some competitive six-year-old…_ ’ With those thoughts in my head, I made my way back to the classroom. Exiting the stairwell that led to the roof, I almost sighed in relief that I was now alone once again— until I ran into someone

A quiet ‘ _oof_ ’ escaped the person’s lips before they promptly fell to the floor.  I remained standing, because really, the impact wasn’t that bad. Resisting a sigh, I held a hand out to the small girl. She looked pretty weak for someone that was to become a ninja, not to mention she was awfully _short_. It made me wonder if she was really a student here… or maybe just some lost three-year-old.

“Are you okay?” I questioned as I helped her up. Slanted, turquoise eyes stared back at me without any emotion. It probably would have been less unnerving if the girl wasn’t fixing her appearance as she did so. After she straightened her clothes out, two small hands reached up towards her dull orange hair to tighten her ponytail.

“Yes.” She finally answered after that, her voice sounding as blank as her expression.

‘ _Amazing. I get to meet_ **_two_ ** _creeps in one day._ ’

“Good...” My voice kind of broke off into a whisper, “I guess.” I was then moving past the short girl, being sure to give her a wide berth as I did so. Her body slowly turned to watch mine, making me grow stiff and start to walk faster. As I walked away, I tried to reach out and sense for her but… it was like no one was there at all. If I looked over my shoulder however, I could see a head of orange peeking out from around a corner.

“Oh my _god_.” I practically whined to myself, quickening my pace all the more.

。。。

On my way home I thought over what I needed to do today. The homework I had been assigned wasn’t even on my mind, considering how quickly I could get it finished. Training was _obviously_ on my schedule… I couldn’t help but feel like I was forgetting something and the burning gaze on my back was _not_ helping me remember.

The sensation had been present since a week after I started the Academy but only now was I really noticing it. Running into the culprit probably triggered my awareness of it; said culprit just happened to be the short child from earlier. I didn’t know _why_ she had taken to stalking me, but as long as she kept her distance, it didn’t bother me. Much.

‘ _What else do I have to do? ...Geez._ ’ My hand brushed up against the outline of my journal that was kept safely inside my bag— my memory sparked. I wanted to search through my hoard for possible supplies to make my traps with! ‘ _Hm, speaking of my hoard; it’s getting pretty big lately… Obaa-chan is probably gonna make me throw shit out soon_ — _Better start putting everything under the floorboards.’_

A hand wrapped around my shoulder, pulling me into someone’s chest as they walked. I’m promptly knocked out of my thoughts, elbowing my ‘captor’ before putting some distance between us. The person grunts, and by the time I’m in a defensive stance and ready to _fight_ — I realize it’s just Murai.

“What the hell!?” I fussed, smacking him on the side of his head. He chuckled under his breath but also didn't fail to whine a little at my violence.

“Heheh… Did I scare you, Kyo~chan? S-Sorry,” The orange-eyed boy coughed as he rubbed his abdomen, “I didn’t mean to.” He totally did, but I made no move to comment on it. Murai stood back up and winked before pointing over his shoulder, “I just wanted to let you know about your stal~ker!”

My eye twitched, “...I’m already aware of her.”

“ _Huh~h_ ? Wow, Kyo-chan really _is_ impressive~!” Murai’s eyes seemed to glint with... _something_ . I wasn’t sure what, but it made me shiver. “Jin-hime is a prodigy and can utilize our kekkei genkai _perfectly_ , so I’m surprised that you can sense her at all…”

A lot of questions were going through my head, but I didn’t really feel like giving the dog a bone so I just shook my head. “No, I didn’t sense her. I can just feel her eyes on me.”

“Oh, that makes _a lot_ more sense!” He began to push me along, his hand resting in the middle of my back. Since we were heading in the direction I was originally walking, I saw no harm in it and allowed it to happen. “Don’t worry though; Jin-hime is _harmless_ ~ Sort of. She may be small but don’t let that fool you, okay!”

Murai continued to ramble, talking my ear off. “She’s my cousin by the way. Pretty obvious considering our shared lack of presence but _you know~_ ! Jin-hime is also the clan heiress, so we all have high hopes for her and all that— She’s also taken to following you around, but we haven’t quite figured out _why_ just yet… I’m glad I was told to do just that though, otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten to see how _co~ol_ you are, Kyo-chan! _OH—_ or should I say: Kyo- _ouji_ ~?” Murai began to break off into giggles.

I (embarrassingly enough) _gasped_ , my face growing red as I tried to sputter out a response. “Wh-Wha— Y- _You—_ ASSHOLE! How does that _even—_ ” I growled, having trouble forming the words. Murai just kept on _laughing_ and it was making me even more frustrated! “I’m not a prince!”

“Yes you are.” A new voice jumped into the conversation, sounding almost _dead_ . There was no emotion behind it or any sign of _life_ . It lacked any expression at all and was _creepy_ as _fuck_.

I wish I could say that I _didn’t_ squeal really loudly but… I totally did. Murai was still laughing.

“Ah~! Jin-hime, you’ve decided to finally step out of the shadows, hm~?” Murai smiled, wiping the tears that had formed in the corner of his eyes. I glared at him before turning to frown at the living-dead girl known as _Jin_.

My displeasure didn’t seem to faze her, because she repeated her words from before, “Yes you are.” Not one for compliments, my face remained as red as ever. “You’re very pretty, Kyojin.”

‘ _Hearing that in such a_ **_dead_ ** _voice… Not sure how I’m supposed to feel_.’ I mused idly.

It _wasn’t_ something I heard often, or ever, for that matter. Sure, I thought I looked pretty adorable for my age, but that was nothing if you compared me to Sasori. My brother was far more attractive than I was; as good-looking as two _kids_ could get anyway. A better example would be to say that, while Sasori had multiple admirers— I had a fair few, not a whole fanclub dedicated to me. This doesn’t bother me; I just find being called a _prince_ (when there are others far more prince-like than me) odd.

“...No. I’m not” I deftly refused with a sigh. “ _Anyways_ , I’m going home now,” I gave them a dubious look, “So don’t follow me.”

I made my way home in relative peace, my mind already going back to schedule for the rest of the day— as if none of that pointless drama had even happened. Which was good, because pondering on the Niijima cousins any longer than needed would _surely_ result in me getting a headache.

‘ _I wonder what supplies I already have…_ ’

* * *

 

Murai’s presence became a regular occurrence ever since their first meeting. The rose-haired boy would sit next to me during class and eat with me during lunch. I didn’t mind too much… despite how annoying the kid could be at times. He enjoyed teasing me relentlessly, but also shielded me from any admirers I might have. I only wished that Jin would follow his example and stop creepily watching me from the shadows.

During lunch as Murai and I sat on the roof and ate, not to far away from us, Jin was doing the same. She, however, was on a floor below us and sitting on a window sill. If I were to look over the roof’s railing, I’d lock eyes with her… ‘ _Creepy._ ’

“How’s your mission going?” I began, wanting to distract myself from the feeling of eyes burning into my back.

“ _Hm_ ~?” Murai wiped at his mouth, “You mean the one my clan gave me about Jin-hime?” I nodded, “It’s… at a stalemate! Honestly, I just can’t figure out why Jin-hime has suddenly taken an interest in you. She’s never acted like this towards someone before~ It’s really odd.”

“Great,” I stated dryly with a sigh. “Have you actually asked her?” My new _friend_ (if you could call him that) remained silent, which was a first if you asked me. I rolled my eyes and frowned, “You never thought to just _ask_?”

“Ehe~ Well, you _see—_ ”

I waved my hand, shushing my classmate as I stood up to lean over the roof’s railing. Jin was already looking back up at me when I looked down at her, “Come up here.” I bluntly ordered before sitting back down, not even waiting to hear her reply.

Not a second later did a hand slam down on the railing near my head, making me screech and fall over into Murai’s lap. Jin leaped over the railing so that she was safely on the roof and stood straight in front of me with her usually dead expression. “Yes, Kyojin-kun?”

Murai giggled at my reaction, squeezing me into a hug and pulling me closer to him. My face turned red as I quickly fought my way back to freedom. Some elbowing and screeching later, I was finally free from Murai’s grasp and sitting back down in my original spot. Clearing my throat and absently fixing my hair, I replied to Jin (who literally had just been watching Murai and I’s little scene).

“Why are you stalking me?” Probably something I should have asked a long time ago, but eh, priorities.

“Simple,” Jin started. Murai and I listened with rapt attention. “Okaa-sama and Otou-sama are planning to marry me off when I’m of age,” Clans were really weird about this stuff… Honestly, this girl was only _six_ — How could they possibly already be thinking about an arranged marriage? “So I’ve decided that I’ll choose my husband myself. I have already watched and observed everyone within our class. Kyojin-kun was the one who I found the most intriguing. He is a perfect.” Murai started laughing his ass off but his cousin’s next words shut him up. “Kyojin-kun is to be my husband, and I will be his bride.”

Murai looked paler than usual; if that was even possible. I wasn't too sure on how I looked at that moment, but I knew that I felt _sick._ Very _very_ sick. Laughing somewhat hysterically, Murai forced a smile. “S-Shouldn’t you be asking Kyo-ouji how he feels about that _first_ ~?”

Jin seemed to consider this before she nodded and turned to me. Before she could even get the question out, I quickly shook my head. “No thanks! I-I’ll have to pass on being your _husband_ , Jin-san… We’re only six, you know.”

At this she perked up, which was only noticeable from the way she stood up straighter. “So when we’re older, you’ll change your mind?”

“I didn’t say that—”

“It’s decided then. I shall wait until then, Kyojin-kun.” Jin bowed politely and made to leave, but I quickly reached out to stop her. With my hand on her arm, the orange-haired girl looked up at me. Surprisingly enough, her eyes seemed to be _sparkling_ and a light flush was on her cheeks.

“U-Uh…” I said, my own face becoming red at her expression. “Instead of being creepy and watching me from afar, why don’t you just approach me _normally._ ” I gestured to Murai who had long since returned to eating, a troubled look on his face, “Like Murai.”

Jin got lost in thought, her eyes seeing through me for once before she finally returned to reality. “I see… I suppose I can do that.”

I smiled and gave a relieved sigh, “Good, I’m glad to hear that!”

The young girl watched me, her lips parted and eyes taking on that sparkling appearance again. Quietly, I could hear her whisper, “... _Kyojin-ouji…_ ”

I groaned, hiding my blushing face in my hands.

。。。

I could officially say that I had friends. They were both very weird and eccentric, but I found that I liked them despite all of their flaws and weak points— and there were a _lot_. I counted. Of course I didn’t think ill of them, or make fun of them for their faults. I just silently seethed over them when they became unbearably annoying. I’m sure my eternal grumpiness and workaholic tendencies irked them too, so I knew we were all on equal grounds at least.

For all our faults and qualities, we still appreciated each other and enjoyed the other’s company. So yeah, _friendship_.

This meant that I had two new seatmates during class, with Murai on one side while Jin took up my other. I was sandwiched between them _all_ the time— even when we sat together during lunch or stood in line during monthly health evaluations. Neither Jin nor Murai would let me stand/sit outside of the unofficial wall they built around me. It was weird (and kind of cute) but since it wasn’t causing any problems, I didn’t scold them for it.

We hung out together outside of school times too, with me sometimes going to one of their houses or them coming over to mine. Out of the three, I preferred going over to Murai’s place the most. My house had a smothering Sasori and Chiyo, who either liked to embarrass me ( _Chiyo_ ) or keep a protective eye on me at all times ( _Sasori_ ). Jin’s house had her overbearing parents and _loud_ three month old brother.

Murai’s place had _no one_. To be exact, Murai lived with his grandmother, who owned and ran her own stall at the market, so she is there for most of the day.

Besides hanging out at each other’s homes, we trained together whenever we could too. Usually it’s only Murai and I who did that though, as Jin’s father trained her most of the time.

Out of the two, I am definitely closer to Murai. He was easier to be around (at times), but was also a constant thorn in my side. Honestly, he liked to randomly show up at my house during all hours of the day. He’d show up early in the morning to train or late at night to go and eat. It was odd, but I always managed to humor him (not without grumbling complaints first, of course).

Having friends was great, but I could never put them before my family.

* * *

 

I sat upside down on the ceiling of my room with my journal open on my desk. On one of the blank pages, I idly controlled a pencil with chakra strings and wrote (very _sloppily_ ) down all that I could remember about current events within the Narutoverse. All of it was English, of course; hardly legible English to be exact— writing with chakra strings was definitely something to get used to.

As far as I knew, this was the same year that Kakashi would graduate early from the Academy and become a genin. Perhaps Rin and Obito did too…? I wasn’t sure. Komushi was also due to become a genin, but I only knew as much because he told me _himself_ that he was in his last year of the Academy. The third of November stood out in my mind as well, so something must happen on that day specifically— a birth maybe?

With a sigh, I rubbed my forehead with my free hand, ‘ _Remembering things is hard._ ’

The door to my room was suddenly slammed open, “Kyo-chan! Komushi-sama came to visit—” The unexpected intrusion scared the _shit_ out of me and it was no surprise when I let out a high-pitched scream before _shooting_ from the ceiling. In my surprise I accidentally channeled a _lot_ of chakra into my feet, causing the surface to promptly explode and launch me towards the floor.

Luckily, Komushi was directly below me so the drop wasn’t too bad. For _me_ anyway, Komushi however, looked pretty winded. “K-Kyo-chan…?” He asked with a dazed expression. I made to get off of him but stopped short when yet _another_ person ran into my room.

“Kyojin! What’s wrong—” Sasori stopped short of his worried exclamation when he caught sight of me, alive and healthy as I sat on his best friend (or maybe just friend? I’m not sure how close they had gotten yet) who was still mumbling in confusion. Slowly, Sasori’s eyes looked _up_ and I knew then that my fate was sealed. Gone was Sasori’s concern, now replaced with a scolding frown, “Please explain _why_ there is a large _hole_ in the ceiling, Kyojin.”

“Uh…” I trailed off and looked around my room, as if I’d find my answer somewhere. Komushi groaned as I shifted, reminding me that _yes_ , I was still sitting on him. Quickly sliding off of the boy, I shamelessly pointed my finger in his direction, “It’s Komushi’s fault!” It technically _was_ his fault; none of this would have happened if he hadn’t scared me...

Sasori didn’t seem to buy my lie though, because his eyes only narrowed, “Are you _lying_ to me, Kyojin?”

I swallowed nervously under his hard stare, “U-Um… Shouldn’t we make sure Komushi’s okay?”

“‘M fine…” Said boy mumbled, slowly sitting up as he rubbed his back. His eyes remained half-lidded until he rubbed at them, “Sorry I scared you, Kyo-chan— Didn’t know you’d do _that_ ,” Komushi’s eyes zeroed in on the giant hole in the ceiling, “—WHOA! So _cool_ , how’d you do that!?”

“Yes, Kyojin. How _did_ you do that?” Stern Sasori was back on the case.

“...Iwasusingchakratosticktotheceiling...!” I blurted out the jumble of words, squeezing my eyes shut.

“I’m growing _impatient_ , Kyojin.”

Heaving a resigned sigh, I explained everything that had happened to cause the current problem. Sasori silently listened, along with Komushi because he _really_ wanted to know how I managed to put a big hole in the ceiling.

At the end of my long winded explanation, Sasori sighed tiredly and pinched the bridge of his nose before inspecting the mess more closely.  “Looks like you’ll be staying in my room until we can get this repaired. Obaa-chan will _not_ be happy when she hears about this; I’d prepare yourself if I was you, Kyo.” I was surprised when Sasori ruffled my hair affectionately, a smile on his face, “I didn’t know your chakra control was that advanced. Good job, Kyo. I’m proud of you.”

Red dusted my cheeks as I grinned up at my brother, feeling a bit relieved that he wasn’t upset with me anymore. Suddenly the grip on my head tightened, making me yelp. Sasori’s smile grew as I gasped— looks like I just jinxed myself.

“ _However_ , that doesn’t change the fact that what you did was _dangerous_. Chakra isn’t something to toy with, Kyojin. You could have died if Komushi wasn’t here to prevent you from breaking your neck, unintentional or not.” Sasori loosened his grip on my head to gently stroke my cheek, “Don’t be so reckless. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you…”

Leaning into his touch I nodded in understanding, “I understand, nii-sama.”

Komushi cleared his throat, his cheeks red from embarrassment after having witnessed Sasori and I’s moment. The boy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “N-Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s go outside and try to walk up buildings! I definitely want to try it out!”

“Can we, nii-sama?” I asked as I looked back at Sasori, my hand holding onto the one that was still on my cheek.

Eventually Sasori relented with a nod, “Yes, but only because I’ll be there to supervise…”

“ _Yes_ !” Komushi cheered, excitedly jumping in the air as if a six-year-old _hadn't_ just flattened him. The brunette quickly snatched me away from Sasori and began to run out of the house, “Let’s go!”

“Komushi!” Sasori huffed, running after the boy. I laughed along with the brunette, clinging onto him as we started a game of cat-and-mouse.

* * *

  **story rec:** “ombre” written by _silent strikes_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as you can see we have some new characters entering the fray~ most of which are going to be main characters. sorry to those who aren’t too keen on having multiple ocs within stories (i don’t like reading stories like that either tbh) but! a sacrifice had to be made since there aren’t nearly enough canon characters that live in suna and are also kyojin’s age. and this boy needs some friends; albeit weird ones who are more his fans (read: stalkers) than his friends but you take what you can get.
> 
> this chapter was, once again, beta'd by the amazing [fortheloveofb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofb/pseuds/fortheloveofb). many loves and hugs as always!


	6. cold, crippled, and shallow

_Rain pelted down on them, but it did nothing to hinder Daniel and his mission to keep them safe. The thunder boomed above them but he didn’t even flinch._

_“M-Mama— Mama!”_

_“Max,_ **_don’t_ ** _!”_

 _Daniel lurched forward, pulling his brother back towards safety. There was nothing they could do; not without any weapons or help in sight. They could only stay put and hope for the best… for_ **_themselves_ ** _. Their mother— There was nothing they could do to save her, it was already too late for that._

_Max, the innocent and pure boy that he was, didn’t see that. He couldn’t see what was really there._

_“My baby! Max— Max, help me! Help your mama,_ **_please_ ** _, sweetie!” The blonde-haired woman called out to her youngest son, reaching forward with blood-stained arms. Max squirmed in Daniel’s arms, trying to reach his mother._

 _“Let me go, let me go! We-We’ve gotta help her, Danny! Mama,_ **_Mama_ ** _!”_

 _“That’s not her, Max— That’s not_ **_her_ ** _!” Daniel kicked at the bloody arms, trying to put as much distance between them and his brother as much as he could. They were insistent, however, and Max was growing more and more restless. Daniel could feel the hold on his brother loosening with the more he struggled, which wasn’t good. All the noise they were making was attracting more zombies._

_“There’s room for her, Danny! We just hafta— We j-just have to pull her up!”_

_Max watched their mother nod frantically, “That’s right, honey. You just have to pull Mama up there with you— then everything will be alright.” Her voice seemed more calm now, as if she was trying to lull him to sleep._

_A foot collided with the woman’s head, earning a groan from her as she tumbled to the ground. The zombies that were already surrounding them paid her no mind, more focused on the two boys above them. Max gasped in horror, a desperate cry catching in his throat. “_ **_MAMA!_ ** _H-How could you—” He turned to his older brother, a betrayed look on his face._

 _Daniel brushed it off completely, standing tall on the platform as he looked coldly down at his brother. “Look, Max— Look at Mama. Tell me what you_ **_see_ ** _, Max.”_

_The blonde boy shook his head, covering his eyes. He didn’t want to see his mother being eaten alive. He didn’t want to focus on her horrified expression, or hear her screams—_

_Her… screams…?_

_Why isn’t she… screaming? Why doesn’t he hear anything other than the moans of the… dead…_

_“I’m okay, sweetie.” Max shakily looked towards where he had last seen his mother. “Max, can you see me? I’m alright! Mama’s okay.”_

_Daniel wrapped his arms around his brother and brought him close when he heard his voice crack, “T-That’s not— You’re not my Mama…”_

_The woman’s head tilted to the side, a bright smile on her face as she laughed, “Of course I am, Maxie—” Lightning flashed and_ **_gone_ ** _was the beautiful image of his mother, replaced with the grotesque corpse of one of the dead._

 _“_ **_Who else would I be?_ ** _”_

 _Max screamed, turning away and burying his face into his brother’s chest. Daniel whispered soothing words to him, never releasing his hold on the child. “Mama, Mama…” He cried, the rain mixing in with his tears and drool. “Why does it have Mama’s clothes— W-Why does it have M-Mama’s body?_ **_Why_ ** _—”_

_Daniel hushed his brother, pulling him into his lap. “We’ll fix this. I’m gonna make a cure, okay? We’re gonna stop this sickness— I’ll make it all better.”_

_Shakily, Max looked up into Daniel’s face. “Promise?”_

_Daniel forced a smile, “Promise.”_

* * *

 

There were some things that I’d rather forget. Like the memories of my family and horrible events that took place in my past life. It was a selfish thing to say, but thinking back on everything _hurt_ sometimes. The fact that I would be reminded of that time through _nightmares_ never helped either. It was one thing to ponder on things, and another to have to cruelly relive them.

I had gotten through a year in my new life without having any nightmares of my past, but of course that pattern had to be broken at some point. The worst part was that I had no one I could turn to for comfort. Sure there was Sasori, Chiyo, and my friends but… There was only so much they could do without _knowing_ what was wrong. I couldn’t just tell them about how my old life haunted me, or about the family I was still mourning over, or how _I know the future of this world because it used to be pure fiction_.

I was _alone_ , but well, there wasn’t much I could do about that.

Either way, it was better to just focus on the present issues at hand.

I was seven now, and Sasori was due to turn eleven soon. Komushi was twelve and on his way to becoming a _chūnin_ . The Exams were to be held soon, and Komushi’s genin team had more than enough preparation, apparently. Once again, it would be exclusive to only _Suna-nin_ due to the war; a fact that shouldn’t matter too much since the other villages were probably doing the same thing… or they were just mindlessly promoting genin so their numbers would increase.

I’m pretty sure Konoha _did_ do that, and that was why Kakashi became a chūnin so quickly… That decision was pretty pointless to me, since those _kids_ would die immediately on the battlefield before having the chance to fight for their village. Basically, Konoha was only increasing their body count.

Their loss, I guess.

In this world, the weak were quickly annihilated while the strong conquered all. This mindset was already carved into my skull from my previous life, so it didn’t take some _traumatic_ event for me to understand that. I was lucky, I supposed. Others (those that were born and raised here; experiencing their first life) wouldn’t get the advantage I had, and would have to learn the hard way.

I was sure that Sasori had already been exposed to how brutal this world could be. He’s been out there on the field for missions; he’s probably seen all the carnage and bloodshed. Soon, he’ll probably be released onto the actual battleground, along with Ichirou, and maybe even Chiyo too if things got too bad.

So far, everything was fine though. Everything was _normal_ and my only concern was making it through my second year at the Academy. Classes were still easy as hell, but luckily taijutsu lessons seemed to have become more challenging; we were even beginning to have sparring matches.

“We should focus on your taijutsu during training from now on. It’s getting a little bo~ring beating you all the time.” Murai whined to me one day as we walked to his house after classes had ended. Jin was trailing along behind us, content with just burning a hole in my back as always.

I rolled my eyes, frowning in the rose-haired boy’s direction (though he viewed it as _pouting_ somehow). “You do _not_ beat me all the time.”

“Kyojin-kun is right; you are both on the same level in taijutsu,” Jin spoke up from behind us, prompting Murai and I to look over our shoulders at her. “I am better than both of you, however.” She said so with a small smile on her face.

I rolled my eyes while Murai laughed, “ _Ahh_ ~ Your jokes are always so funny, Jin-hime~! I think it’s the monotone that makes them work.”

“Thank you, Murai-kun.”

“Kyo-chan...?” A familiar voice called from across the street, making the three of us stop in our steps. I looked over to see the sandy-blonde head of Ichirou Enomoto. The man was thirty now, but still the same as ever in my opinion. “Are you ignoring me? I know it’s _you_ , I can sense it~”

“Ichi-sensei?” I finally replied, approaching the blind man with a grin. Murai and Jin lingered behind slightly— probably confused; I never did introduce them to my brother’s sensei, mostly because I never saw a need to. “What are you doing here? I thought you and Saso-nii were on a mission—”

“We just got back,” A new voice came in the form of my brother as he leapt down from a nearby rooftop. He patted by head in greeting when I grinned up at him.

“Nii-sama!” I exclaimed, engulfing him in a tight hug before pulling away again, remembering how much my friends teased me about ‘ _worshipping_ ’ my brother or something like that… Murai was already trying to hide a snicker behind his hands.

Ichirou sighed, a pout on his face. “Why does Sasori-kun get such an excited greeting? You merely asked _me_ questions— Not even a cute ‘hello’!” Sasori glared at his sensei and I smiled unsurely.

“Saso~chan, it’s so nice to see you again~!” Murai chirped, popping up beside me to wrap an arm around my shoulders. My brother began to glare in my friend’s direction, but Murai didn’t seem to care one bit.

Used to this by now, I could only roll my eyes— Sasori and Murai have disliked each other since the moment I first introduced them.

I had thought that Sasori would hate Jin right away, considering her stalking tendencies, but nope— he disliked Murai the most and simply tolerated Jin. I’m not sure _what_ sparked this… rivalry(?), but I would remain unconcerned until they actually began to try and kill each other.

“Die,” was the only response Sasori gifted Murai with before he snatched me out of the boy’s grasp.

Ichirou began to chuckle as the two boys glared at each other, sparks practically flying through the air and a fire in both of their eyes. “So this must be your rival, Kyo-chan! Sasori-kun has mentioned him once or twice.” _Complained_ he means, most likely.

“ _Oh_ ~? So you talk about me, Saso-chan? I’m _honored_ ~!” Murai was practically speaking through his teeth, his smile tight on his face.

“I’m merely _venting_ my frustrations when your pathetic name is mentioned,” Sasori hissed.

“Isn’t he really Sasori-kun’s rival?” Jin intoned as she watched the scene in front of her.

“How _insightful_ ~!” Ichirou praised, reaching over to pat the girl’s head. She swiftly dodged it, her eyes never shifting. The rejection made the blonde pout mockingly before he was smiling again, “ _O_ ~kay! We have to report-in now; we’ve kept The Kazekage waiting for us long enough— bye, you cuties!”

Sasori was pulled back by his collar, but he didn’t protest or fight the hold his sensei had on him— he simply allowed Ichirou to drag him backwards, glaring at Murai and waving at me, “I’ll see you at home, Kyo. Don’t stay out late with that nuisance.”

I chose to ignore half of what he said and waved back, “Bye, nii-sama and Ichi-sensei!”

“It’s always a pleasure to be in your brother’s presence.” Jin said, nodding to herself. “If Kyojin-kun is a prince, then Sasori-kun is a _king_.”

Murai and I looked at the orange-haired girl in concern. “Jin-hime… you’re not going to start stalking Saso-chan are you~?” Murai asked his cousin, a disgusted look on his face. He even looked a little pale.

“Hm? No, that is not my intention. My heart already belongs to Kyojin-kun.”

As relieving as it was to hear that she wouldn’t target my brother, it was still a little exasperating to be reminded of her ongoing crush on me. If that’s what you could even call it. Murai seemed satisfied enough with her answer though and smiled, “Great~! I’d probably have to commit a _gha~stly_ crime otherwise.”

“Whatever,” I sighed, “Let’s just get to your house already— we still have training to do.”

“Don’t forget homework~!”

“ _Shut up._ ”

* * *

 

Seven years of existing in this world, and only now was I going to meet my _great_ uncle. Apparently, he’s Chiyo’s brother (who I completely didn’t know existed) and his name is Ebizō. I didn’t know much other than that aside from the small tidbit that he is the _head_ of Sunagakure’s Council, and is famous throughout the village— as is Chiyo somehow. Not going to lie, that information blew my mind.

Sasori didn’t seem so surprised when Ebizō explained this all to me, so I assumed he already _knew_ but geez… I knew that Chiyo was a really talented medic-nin within the series, but I had completely forgot that she was also known —along with her brother— as part of the “Honored Siblings.”

‘ _I’m definitely calling Chiyo,_ **_Obaa-sama_ ** _, from now on because_ **_fuck_ ** _, I didn’t know she was this revered.’_

Getting past the wicked surprise that Ebizō had thrown in my face, I learned that he was the exact opposite of Chiyo, personality-wise. While my grandmother was… _crazy_ , in a way, and loud, brash, and overall fussy— My great uncle was calm, indifferent, and very reserved. The difference was _very_ refreshing and made me want to spend as much time with the old man as possible.

Ebizō offered not only a bit of insight on his and Chiyo’s younger days, but also his very _large_ library to Sasori and I. We happily dug into the vast amount of books that were present to us, all while Ebizō did his own little thing. More often than not, however, I’d find myself sitting with my uncle in his backyard where he liked to fish in his small pond.

I’d sit next to him and read while he usually kept quiet, or happily told me a tale about his shinobi days before he retired. Sometimes Sasori would sit and listen as well, but usually he was preoccupied with reading or training instead. Neither Ebizō nor I minded, just satisfied with the redhead’s presence.

Visiting Ebizō became a common occurrence for me, because going to the said man’s house felt like a _vacation_. Normally I stopped by during the weekend, but sometimes (after a rather hectic day) I’d come over during the week as well. Ebizō never seemed to mind, and in fact appeared to enjoy my company. It made me wonder if no one came to see him often, but even if that was true, Ebizō didn’t look like the type to suffer from being alone. He probably preferred it, to be honest.

The man seemed to be normal overall, and a lot more sane that Chiyo by far, but there was definitely more to him than what I was seeing— a fact that I learned during one of my many visits to his house.

Sasori was inside the house at the time, probably lost in the many books on puppetry he had found recently with Ebizō’s guidance. My great uncle and I were outside by the pond, sitting under the sun in comfortable silence. While the man beside focused on fishing, I was lost in my thoughts— the nightmares that had been plaguing me were on my mind once again.

I don’t know why I tortured myself by digging up the images I had once tried to keep buried. What could I possibly gain by thinking about my undead mother’s face, or the way my brother so desperately thought she was still alive? Nothing _good_ was the answer to that… I remembered that right after he calmed down, I had to take out all the zombies that had cornered us. Max’s eyes were on me the whole time, and when I got to our mother— Well, I felt as if a small part of him began to resent me after he witnessed me put a knife through her head.

I bit my lip, fighting against the sudden _pain_ in my chest that made me want to cry. Rolling over onto my side so that my back was facing Ebizō, I breathed a shaky sigh.

“Does it still eat at you?”

“Huh…?” I looked over my shoulder at Ebizō, who had just spoke. His heavily-lidded eyes remained on the pond before him, and his face was expressionless as usual. For a moment, I thought that I had just imagined his voice, but then he spoke again.

“The memories of your previous life. Do they continue to haunt you?”

My eyes widened and I quickly sprung up into a defensive stance. I was weaponless, so taijutsu and ninjutsu were my only options right now. Not to mention that Sasori wasn’t too far away… If I called or spiked my chakra, he was sure to come and help me out in time. I glared at Ebizō, who hadn’t moved at all since I got up. “ _What do you know?_ ”

Ebizō’s lips twitched a little. “I was correct in assuming that this isn’t your first life then, hm?”

I cursed myself inwardly, narrowing my eyes. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have reacted so strongly. Either way, Ebizō _knew_ something; something _very_ important that involved _me_ . I was both terrified and relieved because on one hand I didn’t have to carry this burden all on my own, but on the _other_ my memories could put a target on my back and get me abducted or killed— or _worse_ : Sasori would look at me differently. He’d no longer see his adorable little brother, but instead only see a disgusting _bodysnatcher._

I shuddered before gritting my teeth, “ _Explain_ — How is it you know these things?”

“I’m just like you— this isn’t my first life. Unlike you, however, I am not new to the reincarnation process. This is my fiftieth lifetime, which is why I knew you were like me. After being reborn as many times as I have, you begin to be able to differentiate the new souls from the old ones. It’s rare to meet others who retain their past memories, though— You’re very lucky to have received such a head start.”

I blinked, absolutely dumbfounded. _Speechless_ even. Slowly and with shaky limbs, I sat back down. My eyes were wide with shock, and I was surprised that I hadn’t _fainted_ from such a revelation. There was a small chance that Ebizō’s words were false but… it was so slim and if he was _lying_ then _why_ ? I didn’t understand— and _lucky_? His last sentence made me want to spit acid.

‘ _These memories of mine are nothing to be_ **_grateful_ ** _for._ ’

“You know _nothing_ ,” I nearly _sobbed_ back, keeping my head down as I clenched my fists. “My first life— there’s not one single _thing_ that I’m happy to remember. It’s just another burden I don’t _want_ or need.”

Ebizō smiled at me, “Not one single thing, hm?”

When I only narrowed my eyes at him (flashes of the undead rolled through my mind; the deaths of my friends and family; my _suicide_ ) Ebizō shook his head and continued, “I know more than you probably think. I said this was my fiftieth life remember? That means forty-nine deaths and even more losses. Currently, you’ve only died once and have only lost a lifetime worth of people— I’d say my pain is greater than yours, but fortunately, time has made most of my memories hazy, so it doesn’t hurt as much anymore.”

“You’re saying time will eventually heal my _wounds_ , right? That’s so cliche— it’s absolute bullshit at the moment so don’t give me that crap. It’s no comfort to me at all.” I was growing frustrated, angry-tears began to form in the corner of my eyes. I knew Ebizō didn’t deserve to be the target of all my pent up emotions and thoughts, but I wasn’t thinking clearly in that moment. I couldn’t even _look_ at him as I fussed and swore.

My great uncle (he was still my _family_ and I wasn’t about to be a hypocrite and look at him differently) remained calm, withstanding all my negative emotions with his head held high. After my outburst, he remained quiet and allowed me to regain some of myself before speaking again, “Time will heal your wounds, but scars _will_ remain. Occasionally, I’ll have a dream or a nightmare that will remind me of an event I had long forgotten. Sometimes they put a weight on me, while others brighten my mood. I’ve found that the only sure way to cope with such an amount of memories and past experiences is to just let things _be_. Let time take it’s course— Focus on the present, and if nightmares torture you— remember the good things instead of the bad. You have said that there isn’t a single thing you’re happy to have remembered, but I know that cannot possibly be true.”

I refrained from arguing against his words. They were so _wise_ and filled with such reassurance that I couldn’t do anything other than listen to them and soak in what he was telling me. Hearing it come from someone I respected so much (as well as someone _like me_ ) made it easier to come to terms with. So, as I wiped my eyes, I gave Ebizō a smile before I threw myself into his side. At first he seemed surprised, but it wasn’t long before I heard a small chuckle and his arms were wrapping around me.

“Thank you, Oji-sama.”

“You don’t have to carry this burden alone anymore, Kyojin.”

That only made me want to cry even more.

。。。

After finally calming down and coming to terms with everything, I felt much better. It was as if an _extremely_ heavy weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. My memories in general were still my own secret to keep, as were Ebizō’s since neither of us had the want to try and pry into the other’s past traumas and experiences. I didn’t mind not sharing my foreknowledge of this world with my great uncle, as him just knowing that I was a _reincarnation_ was enough to soothe my soul.

Things were back to normal, and I resumed basking in the sun’s rays while Ebizō continued fishing.

“So…” I broke the quiet between us, “Does this mean that _everyone_ gets reborn eventually?”

Ebizō nodded. “Yes, but it’s not common for more than one reincarnated soul to be placed in the same universe, nevertheless retain their old memories.”

A sudden thought blossomed through me; a bright burning _hope_ . “S-So, my family— My _first_ one, they were reincarnated too? Could they be here?”

“It’s almost like you only heard me say ‘ _yes_ ’...” Ebizō sighed, “You’re family was most definitely reincarnated. Into this world? Unlikely. Even if they were reborn into this universe, it is even _more_ unlikely that they’d still have their previous memories,” His words turned even sharper as he continued, “You must also remember that this world is _vast_ and dangerous. If your family exists here, you may not ever meet them. Either due to the distance between the both of you, or because they were killed again before you could do so.”

My hope simmered a bit, but it still remained. Ebizō’s words were very depressing and _true_ , but I couldn’t let that stop me from at least **hoping** that there was a chance to see my baby brother again. Of course, it’d be amazing to reunite with my father and mother as well, but… Max meant the most to me.

“Kyojin,” Ebizō called my name and brought me back from thoughts, “It would be a blessing to be able to see your past family once again, but do not forget about the _present_ one that you already have.”

“I would never,” I said immediately and without an ounce of hesitation. My gaze turned to look at my great uncle’s house, where Sasori still remained inside. I love this new family of mine too much to just forget them like that.

Ebizō smiled kindly down at the water of the pond, “I believe you.”

。。。

Sasori and I remained at our uncle’s house when it was time for dinner. Ebizō was pretty hopeless when it came to cooking and could only cook _fish_ — which matched his hobby perfectly, might I add. Despite how ancient he was, the culinary arts just wasn’t something he ever picked up. His lack of skill didn’t deter Sasori and I, however, so we took dinner into our hands. We had _since_ gotten tired of fish, so of course we’d take it upon ourselves to make something different for once.

We had decided to go and pick up some groceries when Chiyo arrived, Komushi walking in beside her. A couple bags of groceries were in their hands, which I eyed in confusion. My grandmother was the first to speak between the two, a big _grin_ on her face as she nodded in greeting. “I’m here!” She announced, already walking towards the kitchen to put the groceries up. Komushi followed obediently behind her after greeting us as well.

“May I ask what brings you here?” Ebizō asked, his tone exasperated.

Chiyo returned to the room bagless and with her grin still in place. She winked, “We’re going to eat _dinner_ together! Komushi-kun here was supposed to come and let ya know, but I got off work earlier than expected and decided to just tag along with him.”

“I see…”

My grandmother huffed, smacking the back of her brother’s head. “Well, _damn_! Don’t get too excited on me you old coot!”

Ebizō didn’t react too much to Chiyo’s sudden fit, merely nursing the back of his head while he sighed, “I’ll do my best.”

“ _Ebizō_ , be grateful that your dear sister is cooking you a meal!”

“Is she really?”

A pause.

“Be grateful your dear nephews are cooking you a meal!”

Sasori and I shared a look before standing up and heading to the kitchen. That was obviously our cue to get to work and put our cooking skills to the test. Komushi was still in the process of putting groceries away when we entered the room. The boy looked kind of stressed with his task, unsure if he was putting everything up correctly. I snorted and took the bag of produce that he was holding out of his hands, “There’s no point in putting things up when we’ll have to use them anyway.”

“Ah!” The brunette exclaimed, “You’re right! Thanks for saving me all that trouble, Kyo-chan.”

Sasori shook his head, examining all that we had to work with. “Not that it would matter where you put them anyway. Oji-san’s kitchen is very bare and not organized in the slightest.”

“Oh… Well, whatever! What are we gonna make, anyway? Chiyo-baa-chan said I’d get to _cook_ and I’ve never done that before, so I was super excited when she told me that! Kaa-chan _never_ lets me help her make stuff… She says it’s because she doesn’t want me to accidentally get hurt but I’m a _ninja_ now! Geez, I don’t get her at all.”

‘ _For some reason, I feel like Komushi’s mother is more worried that he’ll fuck up the food rather than accidentally hurt himself…_ ’

Sasori seemed to have the same thoughts, because he blankly stared at Komushi before stating, “You can watch.”

“Damn it,” The eleven-year-old pouted, but Sasori wasn’t affected at all.

“Nii-sama, what _are_ we going to make?” I changed the topic as I looked to my brother.

The redhead silently tapped his chin before giving all the groceries another once over. Finally, he decided, “Miso and tempura.”

“Delicious!” Komushi exclaimed right away, making Sasori’s lips twitch upwards.

I snorted, nodding my agreement. “Let’s get started then.”

“Are you sure I can’t he—”

“Stand back, Komushi.”

* * *

 

Since the discovery I made with Ebizō’s aid, I began to look at people differently. I examined them; analyzed them thoroughly to see if I could spot any similarities of my little brother in them. Max died before I did, so I mainly looked for people older than me, assuming that Max had been reborn before I had.

While my old family was on my mind (mostly Max, if I was honest) that didn’t mean I had forgotten about my current and _real_ one. Ebizō’s words had been taken to heart, so I was going to try and heed his advice to not forget about the family that was already with me.

Speaking of my present family… Sasori was eleven now and I began to wonder what the differences between him and canon Sasori were currently.

For one, Sasori isn’t as withdrawn and gloomy. There also hasn’t been any sight of puppets that resembled our mother and father, so that must be a good sign… I’m not sure where all of this will lead, but I hope that Sasori doesn’t desert the village like he did in the series. I don’t think I could handle losing another brother.

* * *

 

Murai’s foot clipped my chin, sending me backwards and onto the ground. I coughed when sand got into my mouth, spitting it out in disgust. Even after all these years of living in the desert, I could never get used to the horrible terrain.

“Damn it, I didn’t even sense you!” I fussed, quickly catching the pinkette’s ankle when he tried to bring it down on me. I twisted his leg, attempting to bring him down with me, but irritatingly enough, Murai caught himself and threw a punch in retaliation. I released his ankle and dodged, jumping away to put some distance between us.

“Really~?” He grinned, jumping away from me as well. “I’m happy to hear that! I’ve been practicing a lot with it; soon you won’t be able to sense me unless I _want_ you to.”

I laughed a little at that, charging towards Murai and readying a kick to his side. The boy danced around it, but was unable to dodge when my fist caught his other side. “It’s too bad your clan is cursed with _bright_ coloring. Your kekkei genkai is practically useless if I can spot your hair from a mile away.”

“Which is _why_ —” My fist just missed his cheek, and Murai wasted no time in grabbing my arm; soon enough I’m flipped over his shoulder and hit the ground with a grunt.

Instead of dodging like last time, I caught the rose-haired boy’s fist and _pulled_ so he fell forward on top of me. My legs wrap around his waist, and the leverage allowed me to switch position so he wasn’t sitting on top of me. I drew a kunai to Murai’s throat; this was my win.

We were both panting and out of breath by the time our spar ended. Murai spoke up after some time, finally finishing his sentence, “Which is why I want to specialize in genjutsu.”

“Huh,” I rolled off of him and onto my back, eyes closing as I sighed. “I thought it’d be taijutsu.”

“Hm, maybe that’d be a close second… but genjutsu will help me out more on the field. Like you said: the Niijima clan all have really _loud_ looks~!” Murai stuck out his tongue, winking teasingly. “Honestly no one in our clan has dull looks. _Mah~_ Is it a blessing or a _curse_ — I don’t know~!”

I frowned in disgust, bringing my hand down to smack Murai across the face, “Idiot.”

“ _Ow_ ~! That hurt, Kyo-chan!”

“No it didn’t, you useless narcissist.”

Murai continued to whine and pout, eventually leading us to bicker. While a frown remained on my face, a cheeky grin was plastered to his.

‘ _Honestly, he’s the type to tick someone off just to see their reaction._ ’

“So if you’re going to specialize in genjutsu, and I’m going to specialize in poisons and traps… Do you know what Jin is planning to master?”

Murai’s mood seemed to dampen a bit at the mention of his cousin, but I pretended not to notice. He was always private when it came to his background and, honestly, I haven’t felt close enough to him to ask about it just yet. I planned to wait until he told me himself, or until we became genin at least.

The rose-haired boy hummed, “I believe Jin-hime said something about wanting to be the best at ninjutsu~ She really likes those kinds of things; for a prodigy she acts a lot like a normal kid~! It’s kind of cute, huh?”  
“You’re a prodigy too, though, right?”

“Huh?” The question was enough to startle my friend, making him sit up.

I watched him, my eyes never straying away from his. “You don’t act like a _normal_ kid, either. None of us do actually. I think it’s obvious to everyone that the three of us are all considered to be prodigies…”   
Murai scoffed, looking away and at his lap. His pink hair obscured part of his face, blocking his expression from me. “No, I was just trained to be able to cover Jin-hime’s weaknesses. I’ve been working hard ever since I was able to walk— that’s all.”

I wanted to ask more, but I knew I’d just upset Murai more than I already had. I knew his negative feelings weren’t directed towards _me_ per se, but more likely at Jin… no— More likely at Jin’s _father_.

Sighing, I tugged at Murai’s shirt until he was laying back down beside me. I held his hand reassuringly, staring up at the clear sky and trying to ignore how I felt his orange eyes bore into me.

“It’s a beautiful day today,” I glanced over at Murai from the corner of my eye.

He smiled, eyes soft and expression serene for once, “Yeah— it is.”

* * *

 

 **story rec:** “rebirth” written by _the.shrewd.ravenclaw_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise~! you got some insight on how reincarnation works within this story, and also got to see a plot point form. will kyojin start to actively search for his younger brother, or will he just keep his fingers crossed and hope he runs into him one of these days. alternatively, if kyojin does aim to reunite with his past family… how far is he willing to go to find them? 
> 
> this chapter was beta’d by the lovely **Vandenberg** and **[fortheloveofb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofb/pseuds/fortheloveofb)**!


	7. with red in your eyes

Sasori dealt with the death of his parents like most had expected he would. He grieved and mourned their loss, unaware of how he could move past it. There was no way he could turn to his grandmother for comfort; she had just lost a son and (though not by blood) a daughter. Chiyo was in mourning too; unable to focus fully on her grandchildren while she wallowed in her own grief.

Sasori had thought maybe he was doomed to spiral into depression. Perhaps he’d go mad, or maybe he’d grow cold instead. None of those conclusions seemed to be meant for him, however, as Sasori found hope in someone he hadn’t initially considered before.

The redhead was saved by his very own baby brother. Kyojin held the sun in his hands and shoved it into Sasori’s arms, pushing away the darkness that had originally been festering within him. If Sasori were to picture what his life would be like without Kyojin in it… No. Such a thing was impossible to imagine.

“Nii-sama, do you have an antidote to this poison? Komushi dropped the one I had.”

Sasori looked up from the book he was (barely) paying attention to, his musings vanishing from the forefront of his mind. Kyojin stood in his doorway, sweating what looked like  _ buckets _ . His clothes were drenched, his skin was awfully pale, and his pupils were dilated. If this were a new occurrence, Sasori’s heart would stutter before being overwhelmed by a silent panic.

This was nothing new, however. Kyojin’s interest in poisons had skyrocketed throughout the years, as had his proficiency with them. Skill was not the same as experience however, so the young brunette was still a bit more careless than Sasori would like.

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Sasori stood from his seat at his desk and moved to where he stored his antidotes. The redhead glanced back at Kyojin once more, scanning over his condition and the symptoms he was showing. Kyojin was trembling, looking like he’d fall over at any moment, and yet he stood tall; Sasori inwardly gleamed with pride. His little o tōto was strong; a fighter.

“Have you thrown up yet?”

“No, but the nausea is there.”

Nodding his head, Sasori pulled out a vial of the correct antidote. Kyojin held out his hand for it, but  Sasori merely snatched it away before signaling his brother to take a seat on his bed. Kyojin obeyed, but not without a groan in complaint.

“Were you experimenting with the Yellow Jessamine?” Sasori helped Kyojin lay back before he opened the vial and presented it to him.

“Yeah,” Kyojin replied after he tossed the antidote down his throat. He sighed heavily, relaxing further into his brother’s bed. “I’m trying to blend it with the Candelabras Cactus… Maybe…make it more lethal…?”

A small smile made it’s way onto Sasori’s face as Kyojin began to doze off. Antidotes usually had that effect on the brunette; either making him drowsy, or completely sluggish. Sasori began to gently comb his hand through Kyojin’s damp locks, moving them away from his face so that he could see his brother more properly.

Kyojin looked a lot like their mother; with gentle features and soft skin. His hair and eyes were the same dark brown their mother had as well. Some would say that Kyojin looked average (especially when next to Sasori), but the redhead had always found Kyojin to be beautiful.

After he had set aside the empty vial, Sasori settled in beside Kyojin and held him close to his chest. For a moment — _ just a moment _ — Sasori put his walls down and placed his mask aside. He relaxed fully, and hid his face in the crook of Kyojin’s neck so that he could cry without worry.

He felt so blessed and lucky to have Kyojin in his life. His little brother was all he had left; of course there was Chiyo, Ebizō, and even  _ Komushi _ but… None of them filled his heart like Kyojin did.  _ None  _ of them would ever be as important to him as Kyojin.

Sasori’s hold tightened slightly on the sleeping brunette as the memory of their parents’ death replayed through his mind. He had not been there, but it always felt like he had. Sasori knew who their killer was, and that was enough to paint a picture of what their final fight had been like.

His teeth gritted, and Sasori’s sorrow quickly turned into anger.

‘ _ Sakumo Hatake. I hope you suffer. I hope you  _ **_burn_ ** _.’ _

Kyojin shifted in Sasori’s arms, releasing him from those dangerous thoughts. Tears trickled down Kyojin’s own cheeks, startling Sasori back into sanity. He wiped away the tears on his brother’s cheeks, all the while ignoring the ones on his own.

Sasori wondered what Kyojin dreamt of.

* * *

 

Within the Niijima clan compound, Murai was no longer the playful and sly young boy that others knew him as. He reverted within himself, becoming expressionless and silent. Instead of skipping along the dirt path with his head held high, Murai walked with his eyes on the ground. Stares of disgust and annoyance followed him; not too far behind were the whispers.

Murai increased his pace.

He wished he could quickly go home to his grandmother, but things were never that easy. At the end of the day, Murai was to report to the Niijima clan head without fail. No exceptions, and no excuses.

“Report.”

With a bowed head, Murai obeyed the command directed towards him. Not once did he look up and make eye contact with the owner of the voice. After he got smacked around a few times, even Murai learned to keep his head down. Jin-hime’s father seemed to believe that violence was the perfect solution when it came to winning over submission.

“Jin-hime is progressing as normal. Ninjutsu remains to be where she is the strongest.”

The gruff man before him nodded, his fingers tapped idly at the chair, as if it were a throne. “I see… Is she still set on marrying this boy— Kyojin was it?”

At the mention of his friend’s name, Murai swallowed nervously. It was never his intention to get Kyojin involved with the clan, but Murai knew he couldn’t lie. The clan head was smart and would catch on to it instantly. Even if he didn’t, the information could be easily gathered from someone else within the clan.

So Murai nodded, biting the bullet and fessing up all that he knew. “Yes, but he does not appear to be interested in her. Jin-hime isn’t deterred, however, and has said that she’ll wait for him.”

“As expected of my Jin-chan,” The man snorted, but Murai was not surprised by the sudden change in attitude. He had always had a soft spot for his daughter after all. “Is this Kyojin a good character?”

There was no hesitation when Murai replied, a small, secret smile on his face.

“He is perfect, Niijima-sama.”

* * *

 

Jin began training as soon as she was able to walk. Of course, the training wasn’t too difficult or  _ obvious  _ even. Her father disguised it in the form of games and simple chores.

“Let’s see how fast you can clean up all your toys, Jin-chan.” At first she wouldn’t move a muscle, appearing disinterested in the challenge, but the longer her father stared at her with those hard and calculating eyes… she would soon relent and play along with his games.

Sometimes her training would frustrate and irritate her. She hated how she could never get a break on a day that  _ wasn’t  _ important to the clan. There was only  _ one  _ part of her training that she didn’t mind; dancing.

It had been decided for a while that Jin would train to specialize in the fighting style that her grandmother had preferred. In order to master that style, she’d have to learn how to dance first. Dancing would help increase her lithe and gracefulness. It would also help her become more flexible and balanced.

Jin had no problem with her fighting style being decided for her. In fact, if she had been given the opportunity to choose it herself, she’d have chosen the one her grandmother used as well.

Out of all the decisions that had been made for her in her life, there was really only  _ one  _ that she wasn’t quite pleased with...

“We’ll arrange a marriage for her when she comes of age.” The deep voice came from her father; the tone he was using said that this decision was final. Jin remained rooted to where she stood outside her father’s study.

There was a hum in reply; it sounded like her mother. “You’ve already found a suitor for her?”

“No, but by the time she is sixteen I believe we will have found one.”

Jin’s mother sighed, exasperated. “Don’t go making such rash decisions when you’re not even sure what the future will hold. Her marriage will be decided as  _ soon  _ as we find a proper suitor.”

There was a moment of silence before her father finally grunted in acceptance to his wife’s decision. “Very well…”

With her curiosity sated, Jin left with a scowl on her usually expressionless face. She had never once protested or disobeyed her parents’ wishes. This however, she could not sit back and allow to happen. In Jin’s mind, marriage was supposed to be between two people who love each other.

She had read various books about such romances; a prince and a princess; a knight and his charge; a witch and her childhood friend. Jin had read about so many different scenarios and —as cliche as it may have sounded— Jin had always wanted (the  _ only  _ thing that she had  _ ever  _ wanted) to be able to experience such an amazing thing as falling in love.

Jin would not sit back and allow her parents to match her up with just any person. Jin wanted to be in love with the person she married. Six years old or not, Jin was not called a  _ genius  _ and  _ prodigy  _ for nothing. The hunt was on; she was going to find her perfect match before her parents found a suitor.

* * *

 

I wasn’t sure when exactly this rule was established, but it exists. If a prospective student was unable to perform genjutsu or ninjutsu (basically if someone can’t  _ use  _ their chakra to the fullest) then they  _ could not  _ enter the Sunagakure Ninja Academy. They couldn’t become a ninja.

This rule was probably demolished when Gaara became the Kazekage (knowing his moral code), so I’m fairly certain it’ll remain in effect until then. Luckily enough, I was born with a healthy chakra system so I (personally) don’t have anything to worry about.

Switching the topic, if a student wanted to  _ graduate  _ from the Academy, they would be required to take a practical and written exam. Then, if they passed those, they’d have to demonstrate several basic jutsu. I knew everything that the Academy had to teach— thanks to the help of my past memories, Chiyo, and Sasori.

So, needless to say, I was ready to get the  _ fuck  _ out of there.

“Perform the Sand Clone jutsu again; your hand seals were full of flaws.”

I groaned, cracking my aching knuckles. Ninjutsu was fun and all, but memorizing the hand seals was a pain. Literally, since my fingers always managed to cramp up when I was in the middle of trying to execute a jutsu. It was  _ annoying _ .

Sasori didn’t seem to care about my problem, however, as he continued to work me into the dust every day without any problem. When I had brought up graduating early at the age of nine, Sasori said he wouldn’t allow it unless he could decide for himself that I was ready for the shinobi lifestyle.

As if  _ he  _ hadn’t graduated early without any sort of fuss, tch.

“ _ Saso-nii _ , come  _ on _ ! How many times are you going to make me repeat this jutsu?!”

“Until you can execute the hand seals perfectly and within a decent amount of time.”

“Who cares about all of that? My clones always come out perfectly so that crap shouldn’t matter!”

“It matters if it takes you several  _ minutes  _ to completely execute the jutsu,  _ Kyojin _ . By then the enemy will know what you’re up to and can effectively counter it.”

“Or better yet? Kill you.” Komushi suddenly appeared in a whisk of sand. Recently he learned how to use the Sand Shunshin and had been using it ever since.

I rolled my eyes and huffed, “I’m gonna do it so just stand back and watch.”

Sasori and Komushi exchanged amused looks, but listened to me nevertheless. Scowling at them, I took a deep breathe before rapidly performing the correct hand seals for the Sand Clone jutsu. My fingers only cramped  _ once _ , and not a second later, a clone made out of nothing but sand stood next to me.

It matched my height and silhouette perfectly. Though it lacked the detail of a  _ normal  _ clone, it was much more durable and, thus, better suited for combat— unlike a regular clone. The latter were only good for distraction or confusing your opponent.

Sasori examined the clone from where he stood, whereas Komushi decided to get in it's face. The brunette poked and prodded the mold of sand, somewhat testing it’s quality. “Looks pretty good, Kyo-chan!” He complimented at last. “What other jutsus have you gone over?”

“Besides this one… The regular clone technique, substitution, and the transformation one.”

“Aw, I missed all of that!?” He pouted.

“We asked if you wanted to help, but you said you were too  _ busy _ .”

“Oi! Unlike you two, I have a  _ team _ that I train and hang out with!”

My eyebrows furrowed, a look of offense on my face. “Saso-nii has a team.”

Komushi snorted, “He  _ had  _ one. If it’s just him and his sensei then it doesn’t count! It’s more like an apprenticeship than a team!”

“ _ Anyways _ ,” Sasori finally interrupted. “I can now honestly say that I think you’re ready to graduate, Kyo.” My brother stepped forward to place a hand on my shoulder while Komushi ruffled my hair fondly.

“Keep working on those hand seals, though.”

“Shut up, Komushi!”

。。。

Murai raised a curious eyebrow at me, “You’re going to graduate early?”

“I mean, maybe. I haven’t asked Sensei if I can take the exam yet. What about you?” I shrugged, my eyes glued to the bento in my lap. I should probably start making my own lunches; Chiyo’s were beginning to get repetitive.

“Me?” The pinkette seemed surprised that I asked, both of his eyebrows raising this time. “I can’t graduate early unless Jin-hime  _ also _ chooses to do so~” He said it in such a chipper voice, though it was anything but genuine.

“Huh.”

“If you want to graduate early, you should hurry up and do so.” Jin Niijima revealed herself, which made me flinch while Murai remained unmoved. He only smiled sweetly at my reaction; my eyes narrowed.

‘ _ Asshole probably knew she was here the whole time. _ ’

Sighing, I looked to the young girl. “What do you mean? Is something happening?”

She nodded, “Since the war ended and we became allies to Konoha, both of the villages have begun working on ways to strengthen our peace treaty.”

“You’re pretty well informed for a nine-year-old…” I muttered skeptically.

“My grandfather is on the Sunagakure Council. He told this information to my father, who in turn told me. Your uncle is on the Council, too, so I’m surprised he didn’t tell you.”

“I don’t think the Council is supposed to  _ blab  _ about what happens at their meetings, Jin-hime~” Murai butted in, wagging his finger in his cousin’s face.

Jin’s eyes studiously watched said appendage for a second before swiping it away. “Anyways, Suna and Konoha will be holding their first joint-training session soon. A select few students from the Academy will travel to Konoha to experience what  _ their  _ Ninja Academy is like.”

“Wow~! That sounds super fun! I bet Konoha is gonna do the same, right? Will they be sending over a few of their students, too?”

Jin nodded, “Of course it won’t just be Academy students. They’re sending some of their chūnin instructors over to observe as well.”

“Well,” I leaned back on my hands to stare at the clear sky above us. “This could either be extremely  _ bothersome _ or—”

“—Extremely  _ fun _ ~!” Murai threw a hand around my shoulder, a sparkle in his eyes as if he knew  _ exactly  _ what the future had in store for the three of us. I merely dipped my head back and groaned.

‘ _ I better talk to Sensei before it’s too late. _ ’

* * *

 

Naturally, when it came to my luck, it was too late.

After lunch ended I did my best to try speak to Sensei as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the moment I opened my mouth to ask, the instructor announced the joint-training program that Konoha and Suna were going to hold.

I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back an annoyed outburst; Murai was snickering into his hand from beside me.

Then came the announcement of who was eligible to attend this program. Only the  _ best  _ two students from each year (excluding the children that were younger than seven) were allowed to go; Suna had appearances to keep after all.

I shrunk down into my seat when Sensei began to call out the two names. 

“The two students representing our class will be… Jin Niijima,”

‘ _ Should have seen that coming. If that’s the case then these selections are probably rigged by the Council. Jin can’t go far unless Murai is at her side, so it’s obvious that he’s the second person that’ll be— _ ’

“...and Kyojin.”

“ _ What! _ ?”

。。。

Jin and I had to stay after school to get a briefing from our instructor. He went on to tell the both of us that it was an  _ honor  _ that we had been selected to represent our class and village, but also that this experience was optional and that we could decline it (even though such a decision would earn an  _ immense  _ amount of disapproval from the Council most likely).

So really, it wasn’t optional at all, but they just said that to make it feel like we had a choice.

The joint-training program was to begin at the end of the month. We’d leave a week before then, so we had plenty of time to let our families know and get our shit together.

“I’m definitely not at the top of the class, so why was I chosen to go with you?” I questioned Jin after we met back up with Murai. The cousins looked at each other, exchanging a knowing look. Apparently they suspected the reason, but weren’t going to tell me.

“Perhaps you’re underestimating your abilities, Kyo-kun.” Jin replied.

“Stop with the sweet talk. This has something to do with your arranged marriage, doesn’t it?”

Murai finally spoke up, lacking his usual cheerful and teasing tone. “We’re not positive, but Niijima-sama  _ did  _ tell Jin-hime an awful lot about the joint-training program. Then you were selected to go even though you’re not at the top of the class…”

I sighed, rubbing my temples. I should have seen this coming the moment Jin started taking an interest me; of course her father would look into me. Especially if he was planning to marry her off at some point.

‘ _ Hopefully he’ll dismiss it eventually. I doubt he wants Jin to marry a clanless kid. _ ’

“Don’t worry too much, Kyo~chan!” Murai tried to lessen my worries, returning to his usual persona. “I’m sure Niijima-sama will get disappointed once he looks into your family background.”

“Your tact amazes me.”

* * *

 

Sasori was the one to see me off when it was time for me to leave. Chiyo had seen me the night before, knowing that she’d probably be too busy at the hospital to officially say goodbye today. I didn’t mind; I was never one for sappy farewells anyway. Neither was Sasori apparently.

My brother was all business as he handed me my bag. I had packed it the night before, but of course, Sasori took it upon himself to repack it the ‘ _ right _ ’ way. Since I was probably going to be in Konoha for more than a few weeks, I was sure to pack plenty of clothes and other essentials. I didn’t want to have to lug around a ton of bags, however, so I had made some storage scrolls to put most of my things in (it was great practice for my fūinjutsu).

All of the Academy students that had been selected to participate in the joint-training were to meet with the chūnin instructors at Sunagakure’s front gates. There we’d all meet with a team of Konoha-nin, who were to escort us to their village.

It was unnecessary, but a polite gesture nonetheless.

“Kyojin, I need you to remember this,” Sasori spoke sternly. “We may be at peace for now, but it was a  _ Konoha-nin  _ that killed our parents. Be careful and be  _ wary _ .”

“Don’t worry, nii-sama, I’ll be fine!” I reassured with a sigh; I knew from my memories that nothing was going to happen to weaken our alliance with Konoha until  _ much  _ later into the future. There was nothing to worry about.

Sasori ruffled my hair, an exasperated expression on his face. “Yes, I know— I know. I’ll miss you, otōto.”

“I’ll miss you too, Saso-nii.” I reached up to grasp the hand on my head, pulling it down to my face so that I could nuzzle against it. The thirteen-year-old smiled down at me, brushing his thumb against my cheek. I grinned back, releasing him to readjust the bag on my shoulders. “Be sure to tell Komushi I said ‘bye’!”

“I will.”

With one last meaningful smile, I quickly wrapped my arms around Sasori in a hug before pulling away just as fast. “Alright then, I’ll see ya!”

I turned on my heel and rushed towards the front gates.

* * *

 

**story rec:** “memories of rain” written by  _ against. the .current _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _so_ , you may have noticed the nice little interludes included at the beginning of the chapter… i wanted to provide some insight on what the other characters have been thinking and etc, since the story has been written in first person for the most part. if you would like to see some more interludes, please let me know and feel free to mention who you’d like to see the interlude focus on!
> 
> next thing i’d like to address is the “first joint training between konoha and suna’s academy”. this is an actual canon thing but there is literally zero percent information on it. so i’m just coming up with my own idea on how it probably went;; i’m looking at it as a sort-of-kind-of-ish foreign exchange student program. where some ‘specially selected’ kids from suna go to konoha and attend the academy there for a short period of time, while students from konoha do the same thing, except they go to suna instead. if you happen to know any info about the joint training, please let me know because if it was ever mentioned in the series i totally missed it/forgot it :’)
> 
> btw i’m always accepting oneshot requests, so feel free to send them my way! anything goes (fluff, smut, etc) so long as it’s relating to anyone from one of my stories somehow. the same goes for any ships you want to see (kyojin/murai, kyojin/jin, etc).
> 
> last but not least! this chapter was beta’d by the lovely **Vandenberg** and **[fortheloveofb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofb/pseuds/fortheloveofb)**!


	8. dying to be unbroken

For a typical jōnin, the trip to Konoha from Suna would only take three days (accounting the hours used to rest and camp for the night). Due to the majority of us being  _ Academy  _ students, we were all reduced to civilian speed. Thus, this was going to take a  _ lot  _ longer than three days.

‘ _ No wonder we had to leave so early…’  _ I inwardly grumbled to myself, already sick of walking. It had only been three hours and I was absolutely done with this civilian speed shit. I’d never tried to ninja-run before, but I was willing to try anything if it meant we’d get to Konoha faster.

My grumpiness must have been apparent on my face, because it caught the attention of another student walking beside me. It was a boy from a year above mine, seeing as he looked older than Jin and I. He was practically a whole head taller than me, with short black hair and light pink eyes.

He stared at me unabashedly, but I couldn’t find it in myself to say anything. I— I was  _ blushing _ . This guy (probably ten or eleven-years-old) was so  _ pretty _ . He had long eyelashes, and smooth pale skin. His black hair curled slightly at the tips, giving it a wavy look.

“Um… I—” I began to blubber out, for some ungodly reason.

The boy blinked slowly, his eyebrows raising a bit in question before a smirk settled on his face. It was clear to me that he was amused.

“I’m Toshiki Dāku.”

His voice came as a surprise. I expected him to sound more loud and confident. Instead, his voice was very mellow and calm.

“K-Kyojin,” I stuttered quickly before facing forward immediately after. Toshiki snorted quietly to himself, making me huff a little.

‘ _ I feel like I’m the awkward kid in high school all over again. _ ’

“Is this your first time outside of the village?” Toshiki asked, sounding genuinely curious. My mind immediately went to that quiet oasis Sasori had taken me to once upon a time.

“...Sorta,” I ended up saying as I shrugged my shoulders. It wasn’t exactly  _ inside  _ the village, but it wasn’t extremely far from it either.

Toshiki supplied a toneless grunt as he nodded his head in acceptance of my answer. I thought the conversation was over, but then he quietly spoke up once again. “It isn’t mine either. I’ve left the village a few times to visit family.”

“Family…? Aren’t you from a clan?” The name  _ Dāku  _ was somewhat familiar to me, having heard it more than a few times while walking through the village. The Dāku clan was just one of many to be tossed around within village gossip.

Toshiki nodded “Yes, but our clan reaches far and wide. Our members are not restricted to just live in one place. Not the civilians anyway.”

“Interesting…” I mumbled, “Why did you bring it up? Going outside the village, I mean.”

“Just because it seems like you’ve never left it before. I was going to try and comfort you, but…” He paused and looked forward, “I don’t know how.”

There was a moment of shocked silence between us before I had to muffle a laugh into my hand. This guy was  _ definitely  _ not what I pegged him to be. I grinned, covering up my laughter with a few coughs.

Toshiki eyed me oddly. “Are you okay? That was...sudden.”

“ _ Sorry _ , I just— I was really intimidated by you before, but now I realize you’re pretty normal for a kid.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “I’m older than you.”

I snorted. “ _ Right _ .”

If Murai ever met Toshiki and found out that he wasn’t really this “cool aloof” guy, he’d have a field day teasing him. That would certainly take the pinkette’s attention off of me… Maybe… Probably not, but it would still be fun to see.

It was quiet once again between us, and I was beginning to feel a little awkward. Deciding to pick the conversation back up, I opened my mouth— only to shut it a second later when Jin forced her way in between Toshiki and I. Her sudden appearance startled me, whereas Toshiki didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.

“Kyojin-kun, I see you’re getting along with Toshiki-senpai.”

“You know each other?” I asked, while Toshiki greeted the orange-haired girl.

“Bonding between clans,” Toshiki answered— a grimace hiding underneath his blank expression. I could guess these little  _ playdates  _ weren’t very enjoyable for him.

“Toshiki-senpai was a marriage candidate,” Jin stateed blatantly. From beside her, Toshiki stiffened and coughed into his fist.

“That did not last long…”

“Yes.”

Then nothing. The two literally just stopped talking, leaving me without a conclusion to their story. The longer they remained quite, the more irritated I got.

“ _ Well _ ,” I huffed, “What happened?”

If I hadn’t been eagerly looking at her, I would have missed the small smirk on Jin’s face. Meanwhile, Toshiki’s eyebrows knitted together. “It’s not nearly as interesting as you make it out to be.”

“I punched him in the face.”

A cough. “Yes, that sums it up very nicely, Jin-san.”

“ _ Wha _ \- Why did you do that?” I asked, on the verge of laughing.

Toshiki’s ears were red now, and he was looking  _ everywhere  _ but at me. “Because I said…  _ greetings my bride _ .”

“And I am no one’s bride,” Jin concluded, a self-satisfied gleam in her eyes.

“I didn’t know any better, in my defense,” Toshiki tsk’d, “I was repeating what I was told; that you’d be my wife.”

I laughed dryly, “That does sound like something you’d do, Jin… I thought you  _ wanted  _ to be someone’s bride, though?”  _ Mine, to be more exact. _

Said girl shook her head, “Only if I decide it on my own. I don’t want someone to choose for me.”

“You should have just said that instead of punching me in the face…” Toshiki muttered to himself.

“What was that, Toshiki-senpai?”

Jin was given a polite smile. “Nothing, Jin-san.”

* * *

Once the Sunagakure students reached Konoha, they were assigned hotel rooms to stay in for the duration of the training program. They also received a class schedule for the Konoha Ninja Academy, and a list of supplies that they would need to aid them during lessons.

As it turned out, our roommates were to be a random chūnin from Suna and the other student that was representing our year. In my case, that would be a shinobi named Taikan and  _ Jin _ .

We had three days before the program would officially start, and I was hellbent on using those days to familiarize myself with the village. A part of me also wanted to look around for a specific  _ soul _ , but I knew finding Max in this world would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Some things came to you on their own; hopefully I’d stumble onto Max like that.

I wasn’t  _ just  _ thinking about my previous family (Ebizō’s words definitely stuck with me), the warning Sasori left me with was also on my mind.

Konoha-nin killed our parents, and though I had never concerned myself with the thoughts of them before… Being in their territory definitely made me feel on edge. It was weird, to never entertain an issue but to then suddenly have it thrown in your face.

It was one way to bring up our parents’ deaths, that was for sure. The memory ws distant to me now, but I knew it was there. Whereas, the actual memory of my parents them _ selves _ ? Nonexistent, really. I didn’t have a relationship with them like Sasori did. I could, however, compare them to my  _ old,  _ first-life parents.

My father was irreplaceable. My mother on the other hand? I could have done without her, but Max loved her, so I would put up with her anyway.

“Kyo-kun.”

“Hm?” I jolted a little, Jin’s voice knocking me out of my thoughts. She was standing next to the dresser in the room, gesturing to an open drawer.

“I asked if you wanted to put your clothes in this drawer. If not, I’ll be taking it.”

“No,” I absently refused her offer, “You can take it.”

I didn’t plan on unpacking my bags, anyway. After the outbreak in my other life, I learned to always keep my things organized and ready to go in case a horde was to invade our camp— or  _ worse _ , other people.

“Suit yourself,” she said before returning to unloading her things.

“I  _ will _ ,” I huffed, standing from the couch and stretching my arms. “I’m gonna go exploring. Catch ya later!”

At that, Jin’s head shot up and her narrowed eyes follow me as I head to the door. “You should find our instructor first and—” I shut the door behind me before she could finish her sentence.

**xxx**

I made it out of the hotel.

That’s it. That’s all I managed to do.

Despite my hopes, Konoha didn’t have any maps laying around for foreigners like me to use. So, I had no way of knowing where the marketplace was—  _ if _ such an area even existed. For all I knew, the shops were scattered across the village instead of being grouped together like they were in Suna. It was a shame the anime never gave me a clear picture on the village’s layout, otherwise, navigating wouldn’t be such a hassle.

Probably.

I could always ask a local for help, but at the same time,  _ no _ . I’d rather not involve myself with any of the Konoha-nin unless I had no other choice. I didn’t know their views on outsiders, and I was already wary enough due to the unfamiliar environment.

Civilians were also an option, but they probably wouldn’t know where the local  _ weapon  _ shop was.

With a weary sigh, I rolled my shoulders and looked down the street I was on. It was the early morning so the streets weren’t packing much traffic yet. However, a small group of civilians seemed to linger nearby, their curious glances at the hotel made it obvious what they were here for.

Couldn’t really blame them, since seeing a foreign ninja probably wasn’t a common thing for them, nevermind a huge gaggle of them— and mostly children no less.

‘ _ Now, to more pressing matters… Do I go left or right? _ ’

The group of civilians made this choice for me. They were to my  _ left _ , so, obviously, I was going to go right. I had no interested in being potentially stopped to be asked questions. Nor did I feel comfortable passing by a large group of people anyway— civilian or not, I was  _ paranoid _ .

‘ _ At this point, I don’t know if it’s because of Sasori’s words or my past life’s conditioning. _ ’ Either way, it was fucking up my little “vacation”.

Walking down the street,  I was confident I was getting somewhere. There seemed to be more people around as I walked further into the village, so my hope was that the shops would be just a few turns away…

“How the  _ fuck _ —” A few minutes of walking mindlessly and I was already lost.  _ Far  _ from my objective, because the once crowded streets were now bare as  _ shit _ . It would be no surprise to me if a  _ fucking  _ tumbleweed blew across the street right now, because that’s how barren it was.  _ Honestly _ , would it have killed them to put up some damn  _ signs _ ?

‘ _ Cursing more than normal? Yeah, I’m definitely panicking right now. _ ’ Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself down. ‘ _ Getting lost in a foreign village isn’t  _ **_that_ ** _ bad, right? _ ’ I laughed a little. ‘ _ This is seriously, just my luck. _ ’

It’d be easy to just retrace my steps, but admittedly, I was too busy trying to look for a shop sign rather than remember which way I was going.  _ Not  _ the smartest thing to do as a future shinobi, I knew. Rather than continue wandering around the  _ large  _ village, I was going to try a different method. A method that I honestly should have thought to use earlier: use my chakra sensing to locate a large group of people, which  _ should  _ be at a busy part of town—  _ which  _ should be a shopping district.

With a relieved smile on my face, I closed my eyes and began to feel around the neighborhood. I detected a cluster of signatures nearby, undoubtedly of ninja.  _ Awesome _ , that had to be a supplies shop of some sort. Though the signatures weren’t all grouped together and were actually  _ scattered  _ around the area. So, maybe that meant it was a marketplace for ninja wares?

Either way, I was happy that I knew where I was going now.

‘ _ This was such a great idea. _ ’

**xxx**

“I change my mind.”

Those words quickly left my lips as I stared up at my destination; the entrance to the one and only  _ Uchiha  _ Compound. I  _ literally  _ had the worst luck ever. The worst thing that could happen,  _ happens _ and yet— I’m always surprised by it.

I was probably standing outside of it, looking up in abject horror at the large fan insignia, for five minutes before a voice finally called out to me. I had sensed the incoming signature, but I still flinched a little at the sheer  _ volume  _ of the voice.

“ _ Hey _ , are you lost?”

Turning around, I was more than a little shocked at who had come to my aid. A boy, no older than twelve, with short, spiky black hair and onyx eyes stood there. Generic Uchiha, obviously, but that was  _ not  _ the kicker here. This boy was clad in a blue uniform with an orange collar and trimming, and to top it off? He was wearing orange-lensed goggles.

The boy was none other than Obito Uchiha.

Despite my quaking mind, I answered his question in my usual fashion... “Wow, how’d you figure that out?” With sarcasm.

His reaction was both instant and dramatic. He scrunched his nose up in offense and squawked loudly. “ _ Haa?!  _ You’re pretty rude for a kid!”

“And you’re pretty loud for a  _ ninja _ ,” I returned snidely, eyeing the forehead protector on the boy’s head. I couldn’t help but wonder where I was in the official timeline for Obito to still be alive. I couldn’t remember when he died, but I knew he looked about the age he was now. Maybe soon, then?

It would be ideal to prevent his “death”, but honestly? I had no way to do that in my current state. So, instead I’d focus on things I  _ can  _ control. Like Sasori’s fate.

“Here I was, trying to be  _ nice  _ and  _ help  _ this cute little kid— only for him to turn out to be a  _ brat _ !” Obito was still fussing to himself, while I stood quietly in front of him with a dry expression on my face (cheeks a little red at the  _ cute  _ comment, however).

Sighing, I finally decided to cash in on the miracle that was Obito Uchiha’s unexpected arrival.

“ _ Hey _ ,” I interrupted his rant about ‘how alike this brat is to certain  _ baka _ ’. He paused, mouth hanging open comically before he shut it with a huff. Obito crossed his arms expectantly, and I almost felt that a senpai and kōhai relationship was something akin to this.

Rolling my eyes, I continued, “Is there a marketplace around here?”

“Huh?” Obito seemed a bit put off with my sudden forwardness, but nevertheless took it in stride. He certainly was as eccentric as he was portrayed in the series. Scratching his head, the older boy nodded before saying, “Yeah— There’s some market stalls set up near here. Did you need to do some grocery shopping or somethin’?”

“No,” I pulled out the crumpled materials list from my pocket and presented it to him. “I just need to pick up some supplies for the Academy.”

“Academy!?” The list was quickly snatched out of my hand. Obito’s eyes squint as he tried to read the paper; those tinted goggles probably weren't helping his eyesight any. “Are you a new student? You’re, like, really old for a newbie though…”

My eye twitched the longer he stared at the paper. With an exaggerated sigh, I snatched his goggles off his head, nearly throwing him to the ground as I did so. He was taller than me, so stealing the ugly things was no easy task.

“ _ Fucking  _ idiot, I don’t have all day! I can tell you can’t see properly with these things on; at least just wear them around your neck if it’s for fashion’s sake.”

“Y-You— You—  _ Language _ !” The Uchiha attempted to snatch his goggles back, but I leaned away from his reach. “And I can see just  _ fine _ ! I was just taking my time reading the list.”

“It’s not that long.”

“I reread it several times, too!”

Seeing that this was going no where, I rolled my eyes and shoved the ugly orange things into Obito’s chest. He grabbed onto the goggles with scrambling arms before securing it over his eyes once again. His face was red in either embarrassment or irritation, I didn’t know— Either way, he still looked as dumb as ever; I was sure to tell him as much.

“You look fucking stupid.”

“ _ S-Stop  _ saying that!” Obito looked exasperated as he pulled his hair in frustration. “Look, I can help you get these supplies, but, what is it you need them for?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it— I’m Kyojin. I’m here for the joint-training program.”

“Wow, I completely forgot about that! Geez, I wish we had done something like that when I was in the Academy!” That would have been a little hard, what with the war and all, but I kept that little tidbit to myself.  “Huh— Well, nice to meet you, Kyojin! I’m Obito Uchiha.”

“ _ Now _ ,” Obito continued as he snatched the list of supplies out of my hand, “Let’s go shopping! I’ll show you all my favorite spots— I mean,  _ of course,  _ we’ll get your stuff, too! I’ve never been a tour guide for someone before though, so I’m gonna go all  _ out _ !” An arm got thrown around me as Obito began to lead me down the street.

For some reason, I suspected that I would be deaf by the time this little trip was over and done with.

* * *

Surprisingly, my supplies were bought quickly. It was the  _ tour  _ that really took up our time. I ended up carrying my bags, while Obito carried a few of his own (groceries for a neighbor, books for a cousin, flowers for a  _ girl _ ). Silently, I figured Obito was one of those compulsive-buyer types.

“I showed you all the ninja shops… and all the generic ones…” Obito said, his face scrunched up as he tried to think of where to take me next. Despite how exhausting the Uchiha was, I was actually enjoying getting to know the layout of Konoha and all the hotspots within it. By the end of the day, I would probably be comfortable enough to sleep without an eye open.

“Is there any place you like to go to often?” I asked, trying to help quicken his decision.

“Yeah, I got it!”

Obito took off quickly, leaving me stumbling behind him. A few minutes later and we were in front of a very familiar ramen stand. As we took a seat at the counter, we were greeted by a young looking man: Teuchi. I was a little stunned at first, and almost didn’t recognize him.

“I don’t come here  _ often _ , but I’ve come enough times to memorize the menu!” the Uchiha explained as he passed his menu to me, since he apparently didn’t need it. I couldn’t remember if Suna had any ramen stands, but I did know that I hadn’t eaten the dish in  _ years _ .

“Uh... “ I stared dumbly at the variety of ramen on the menu. “Can you just order for me?”

Obito looked a little surprised at my suggestion, but the bright smile on his face made it obvious he appreciated the gesture. “Sure! No one's ever asked me to do that before… But  _ trust me _ , you’re gonna love what I pick you.”

“I trust you,” I said simply, a soft smile on my face. It wasn’t often I gave those out...and they were usually reserved for Sasori, but, unconsciously, it appeared on my face.

Obito looked at me (very much resembling the male lead of a shoujo manga), stunned by my expression. “ _Wow_ , who knew a brat like you could smile like that?” I had thought he was going to say something more _flattering_ , but I wasn’t surprised with this energetic idiot— “You should do it more! Oh, wait— _No_. Nevermind, if you do it all the time then it wouldn’t be as special.”

Before I could say anything, Obito’s mind trailed off as he started to mumble to himself about “special smiles” and somewhere within it, I’m pretty sure he mentioned a  _ Rin _ . I didn’t listen in for much longer, because soon our food was placed in front of us.

I was hit with a gust of steam, forcing me to lean back a little. Obito and the woman that delivered it laugh at the action, resulting in me  _ pouting _ . 

“Thanks, Hatsumi-san!”

“No problem at all for our favorite customer! I see you brought a new face with you. Is this another one of your ninja friends?” She curiously asked, eyes moving to focus on me.

“No, he’s—”

“I’m Kyojin, his soon-to-be ninja friend,” I interrupted with a sweet smile, bowing my head a little in greeting. From beside me, Obito’s lip curled in irritation, only making me smile more.

“Oh? Well then I wish you luck. The Academy can be tough, I know as much!”

“ _ Ehh _ ?!” came Obito’s dramatic response. “You were a kunoichi, Hatsumi-san!?”

The young woman laughed, shaking her head. “No, no. I dropped out of the Academy before that could happen. It just wasn’t a lifestyle I could get into… I’m happy I did, too. “ She looked over her shoulder at Teuchi as he cleaned the cooking area. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have met Teuchi.”

‘ _ Oohhh. Now everything makes sense. _ ’

I had been wondering who this mystery woman was. She had to be Teuchi’s never before seen wife, and the mother of Ayame. Seeing as she was never mentioned or shown in the official series, I wondered what would become of her.

A few more customers arrived, taking Teuchi and Hatsumi’s attention. Obito and I ate and chatted (mostly him, but I was more than happy to listen to his mindless chatter) to pass the time. By the time we were finished, it was the early afternoon.

“That was  _ so  _ good~!” Obito exclaimed as he rubbed his stomach in contentment. Then, he paused suddenly, body going rigid. “ _ Crap!  _ I’m late!”

I could only stare curiously as the boy scrambled to pay for our meal and get up at the same time. He nearly knocked over the stool in his haste.

After practically throwing the money down, Obito bowed to me so fast his goggles nearly flew off his head. “Sorry to just leave you like this, but I really gotta meet my team— I’m already three hours late! U-Um, it was nice meeting you— Let’s hang out again sometime!”

With that, Obito was gone and I was left alone at Ramen Ichiraku with no idea how to get back to my hotel.

* * *

**story rec:** “aberration” written by  _ rin o’ gen _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please check out my **wattpad** (niidere) for oneshots of my stories! i’m always accepting requests, so feel free to send them my way! anything goes (fluff, smut, etc) so long as it’s relating to kyojin somehow. the same goes for any ships you want to see (kyojin/murai, kyojin/jin, etc). **i’m even working on an akatsuki/kyojin mini series!**
> 
> if you don't feel like going to my wattpad, all the oneshots will eventually be cross-posted up here, so no worries.
> 
> this chapter has been beta’d by [fortheloveofb!](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofb/pseuds/fortheloveofb) check out her stuff, she’s an excellent writer!! wink wink


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